Predicting Work Transition Outcomes for Students With Disabilities: Implications for Counselors

Abstract

This study examined predictors of postsecondary school success by analyzing a 5‐year database of 2,258 students with disabilities participating in the Marriott Foundation's “Bridges…from school to work” internship programs at 6 national sites. Discriminant analysis revealed that acceptance of a job offer was predicted by internship completion, numbers of hours worked, and days absent during the internship. Internship completion and acceptance of a job offer were predictive of follow‐up employment status. The implications of these findings for future research and practice with work‐bound students with disablilities are considered.

Factors Related to Early Termination From Work for Youth With Disabilities

“…Research has shown that a previous paid or unpaid work experience is a significant predictor of job retention (Colley & Jamison, 1998;Fabian, et al, 1998;Karpur, et al, 2005). Level of education, income, health, and perceptions of disability also had a significant impact on job retention in several studies (Colley & Jamison, 1998;Fabian, et al, 1998;Hasnain & Balcazar, 2009). …”

“…Other significant factors include having prior work experience (Colley & Jamison, 1998;Fabian, 2007;Wagner, et al, 2005), having participated in vocational education (Karpur, Clark, Caproni, & Sterner, 2005), and having a career goal (Benz, Lindstrom, & Yovanoff, 2000). In addition, age, sex, stability of home environment, receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), staying in high school, and having an employed sibling also affect whether or not youths with disabilities secure a job during their transition from high school (Fabian, 2007;Fabian, Lent, & Willis, 1998;Gardecki, 2001;Wagner, et al, 2005).…”

“…While many researchers have focused on factors that impact youth with disabilities obtaining work (Benz, et al, 2000;Colley & Jamison, 1998;Entwisle, et al, 2000;Fabian, 2007;Fabian, et al, 1998;Gardecki, 2001;Hasnain & Balcazar, 2009;Wagner, et al, 2005), very few studies have focused on youth with disabilities who obtain but do not retain a job.…”

“…Many studies have demonstrated the impact of work experience on post-high school employment (Benz, et al, 2000;Colley & Jamison, 1998;Fabian, 2007;Fabian, et al, 1998). In 1998, Colley and Jamison studied 720 students with disabilities who had transitioned from high school.…”

“…Both previous work experience and vocational education are posited to have an impact on early termination (in hypothesis five and six), due to their correlation with obtaining a job (Benz, et al, 2000;Colley & Jamison, 1998;Fabian, 2007;Fabian, et al, 1998;. Hypothesis seven, that the presence of job benefits will have a significant impact on early termination, comes out of research showing that participation in the secondary job market can have adverse affects on youth obtaining jobs in the primary job market (Berger & Piore, 1980), and that youth with disabilities are often placed into jobs in the secondary job market (Braddock, et al, 2005;Hasnain & Balcazar, 2009;Waddoups & Assane, 1997).…”