Collegiate Purpose and Career Development at the Intersections of Disability and Social Class

• In Event: College Students, Dis/ability, and Intersections of Identity

Abstract

This paper shares findings from a constructivist grounded theory study of purpose development conducted with 59 college students with disabilities. Variations in social class and type of disability (as well as the interaction among them) led to complicated paths toward purpose development—especially career choice—for college students with disabilities.

Authors

• Annemarie Vaccaro, University of Rhode Island

• Ezekiel Kimball, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Barbara Newman, University of Rhode Island

• Adam Moore, University of Rhode Island