Supervisors info:
Βασίλειος Τσάφος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Τμήματος Εκπαίδευσης και Αγωγής στην Προσχολική Ηλικία, Εθνικόν και Καποδιστριακόν Πανεπιστήμιον Αθηνών
Summary:
Disabled people are constantly excluded from the labor market. The problems they face are in the job offerings but also in maintaining them. Usually the positions offered are low social prestige, with low pay, poor working conditions and few opportunities for development (Barnes, 2003). Today, political decisions and state actions have shown incapable of responding to the demands of the disabled, removing barriers and creating the conditions for their inclusion into work. They are trapped in market demands for economic growth and profits. Although international conventions and directives as well as domestic policies attempt to combat discrimination in both the recruitment and professional life of the disabled, their effectiveness and real intentions are called into question (Parker, 2006). The present study therefore attempts to explore the experience of disabled people through recruitment processes in order to identify potential exclusions, discrimination, abusive behaviors and employers' attitudes towards them, as well as prospective improvements to the existing employment status.
This research is a qualitative research which follows the interpretative example. The sample was ten adult disables people, who are a workforce. As a method of sampling, the technique of snowball or otherwise chain sampling was used, while a semi-structured interview was considered as an appropriate research tool. The principles of the semi-structured thematic interview were followed in this study. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for in-depth analysis. The analysis process involved grouping and comparing respondents' perceptions into larger, more general entities. As a method of analyzing interview data, content analysis was used.
The results of the survey have shown that while people with disabilities claim to have a job as a means of inclusion them into society, neoliberal politicians are at risk of this fundamental demand. Prevention procedures in the private sector appear to reinforce the marginalization of the disabled people and their job exclusion, as they have for the most part turned out to be repressive and oppressive conditions for them. At the same time, the ideological hegemony of the physically able-bodied worker and the identification of disability as illness and disability seem to be dominant, while incidents of discrimination appear to be typical within recruitment processes. All of which advocates the depreciation of the disabled worker. An important position to be promoted is that the capitalist system is a critical factor that has intensified the oppression and discrimination experienced by disabled people on a daily basis. The reorganization of the concept of labor and the value system that characterizes it seems to be a key demand of them, which, of course, runs counter to the existing organization of the economy which is dominated by capitalist ideals. Resistance and collectivity among the handicapped are ultimately resolved by them capable of bringing about change.
Keywords:
disability, work, disabled worker, recruitment, private sector, work exclusion
