Career Success and Satisfaction of People with Disabilities: The Role of Management Educators

Keywords: Disability, Career Development, Diversity

Abstract: As more students with disabilities enter colleges and pursue educational paths that are likely to render them employable, colleges and workplaces are not fully equipped to receive them and include them. There is a need for faculty to look beyond reasonable accommodations mandated by Section 504 and think intentionally about specific ways in which students with disabilities can be supported in college, so they have positive career outcomes after they graduate. In this session, we discuss what the extant literature says about the causes of low career success and satisfaction among people with disabilities and share findings from our own research on some of unique character strengths persons with disabilities that help them achieve and be effective in leadership positions. We then open the session and invite faculty perspectives on how to coach students with disabilities to be successful in college, highly competitive job markets and the workplace.