Personal sacrifice and corporate cultures: career progression for disabled staff in higher education

Abstract

Disabled people are under-represented in higher education\ud (HE), especially in senior posts. This article reports research\ud on the perspectives of career progression into leadership\ud held by disabled staff in one post-1992 university. Findings\ud indicated that some participants were already engaged in\ud leadership or aspired to such roles, and reported positive\ud experiences. However, participants also experienced barriers\ud to progression, including a lack of awareness of equality\ud and diversity among managers and colleagues, inadequate\ud professional development opportunities and the competitive\ud organisational culture of management that could impact on\ud their health and work–life balance. We conclude that disabled\ud staff in HE do not yet have equal opportunities for progression\ud into leadership roles compared with their non-disabled peers.\ud There is a need for realignment of the culture of leadership\ud and management to make it more compatible with the\ud full inclusion of disabled staff in HE such that their unique\ud contributions are valued

The insider view: tackling disabling practices in higher education institutions

“…More generally, in the USA and UK at least, the marketisation of higher education (Cribb and Gewirtz 2013; Martin 2016) creates a targetdriven culture where departments rely on their ability to recruit students, to gain high scores on 'student satisfaction', and simultaneously to produce academic papers which are graded by panels of 'experts' in order to reward those institutions where research excellence is demonstrable. In that culture of commodification, it is maybe unsurprising that the experiences of disabled staff within universities have generally been shown by research to be problematic (Brewster et al 2017;Brown and Leigh 2018;Corlett and Williams 2011;Inckle 2018;Waterfield et al 2018;Williams 2011). Despite some positive 'coping strategies' reported, a dominant theme is the normative 'ableism' which is embedded unconsciously in the academy, from recruitment practices (Chan 2005) to physical access (Titchkosky 2008), and the pressure placed on disabled academics (Raymaker 2017).…”

Disability and Academic Careers: Using the Social Relational Model to Reveal the Role of Human Resource Management Practices in Creating Disability

“…The data illustrate the individualist approach of adjustments place considerable burden on disabled employees, who are already managing their workload and impairments. To reiterate, the inclusion of disabled employees in strategic and operational planning groups may also help to facilitate these objectives to move towards inclusive higher education (Brewster et al, 2017).…”

I see you but you don’t see me: the “two-way mirror effect” of gender and disability in employment

“…Within organisational studies, scholars have identified that work cultures which personify binary discourses can hinder the career progression of women, particular women with disabilities, who work in organisations dominated by a patriarchal and able-bodied system (Brewster et al, 2017). As a consequence of the discussed barriers to employment participation some women with disabilities sacrifice their careers for fear of having to reestablish their credibility in the job role, risking discrimination, harassment and bullying (Author B, in press).…”

“…Gender and disability discrimination are a prevalent problem in the workplace, as White middle-class men continue to dominate the top positions in organisations irrespective of women's growing advancements (Sealy et al, 2016;Atewologun et al, 2016). This is more predominant in professional jobs, for example, in higher education management the level of disabled women present is very low (3%) (Brewster et al, 2017). Specific to disability, there are a number of barriers in place that prevent disabled women from progressing into and/or maintaining leadership positions, ensuring that workers with disabilities are stuck at the bottom of the career ladder (Kaye, 2009).…”

“…Specific to disability, there are a number of barriers in place that prevent disabled women from progressing into and/or maintaining leadership positions, ensuring that workers with disabilities are stuck at the bottom of the career ladder (Kaye, 2009). These barriers included: "a lack of appropriate support strategies; lack of confidence; the demanding nature of the role and its impact on their health and work-life balance; lack of awareness among managers and colleagues and inadequate uptake of equality and diversity training; a lack of positive role models; a lack of investment by the university in supporting staff through professional development activities; and the nature of their additional needs" (Brewster et al, 2017(Brewster et al, , pp. 1037.…”