Disabled people working in the disability sector: Occupational segregation or personal fulfilment?

• In Event: 3220 - Disability and Work

Abstract

Disabled people face manifold inequalities on the labor market. Compared to more common measures in terms of employment rates, skill levels and work conditions, the concentration of disabled workers in disability-related occupation (working for a disability organization or specializing in disability in their occupation) represents a less visible and less documented aspect of this labor market segmentation. This paper explores it based on a life-story research project conducted in France, involving 30 people with either mobility or visual impairments. The content analysis of the biographical interviews reveals the importance and various manifestations of this phenomenon. It also shows that its meaning for disabled people is ambivalent. Specialization in the disability sector can be experienced as a means of work integration as well as a form of segregation. I identify three processes through which disabled people specialize in disability-related occupations, which also shed light on the meaning they convey to this specialization: specialization as a consequence of reclassification, specialization constrained by a lack of other opportunities, and specialization as a positive choice.

Author

• Anne Revillard, Sciences Po