Colleges Must Reexamine Career Services to Boost Employment of Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities are the fastest growing population on college campuses, according to a 2016 report by the National Center for Education Statistics. Yet, only 16% of these young adults will earn a bachelor’s degree or more compared with 39% of their non-disabled peers. And they are nearly twice as likely to be unemployed, according to the Annual Report on People with Disabilities in America 2020.

Too often these college students’ career aspirations are negatively shaped by the limiting attitudes of family, campus policies and society to lock in an identified career.”

Chang-kyu Kown, Professor, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership

“The framework we propose is targeted career services that provide individualized support to students with disabilities so they can make career choices that are consistent with their personal values and life purpose,” Kwon said.

The team described their proposed approach and the numerous obstacles these students face in a practice brief published in the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.

Kwon’s co-authors were Sarah S. Guadalupe, an instructor and field coordinator in social work at the University of South Florida; and doctoral student Matthew Archer and Darlene A. Groomes, a professor of human development and child studies and associate dean of the School of Education and Human Services, both at Oakland University.