Transitions from School to Work: How Barriers and Opportunities for Youth with Disabilities Vary by Context

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Millions of youth with disabilities around the world face barriers to accessing quality education, community involvement, and employment opportunities. These barriers are vast and differ by context, but can be overcome with intentional, evidence-informed, context-specific policies and interventions in education and workforce development. To truly address these barriers and reach Sustainable Development Goal 4 of achieving inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, we must protest against models that see disability-inclusive as an afterthought or boilerplate add-on and instead prioritize proactive and contextualized efforts. This panel focuses on understanding the unique barriers that youth with disabilities in low-, middle-, and high-income countries face to quality employment, including and especially access to and quality of education. Panelists will share how cultural and contextual factors affect these barriers, explore promising approaches, and look at the effect of inclusive education on employment for youth with disabilities.

The first paper presents an overview of the common barriers faced by youth with disabilities in lower- and middle-income countries to accessing quality employment and the approaches that have and can be utilized to address these barriers. In particular, it responds to the following research questions: 1) What does the evidence tell us about the most effective ways to increase new employment, sustain employment, and improve the quality of employment among youth with disabilities? 2) What kind of approaches are effective in promoting disability inclusion with the private and public sectors? 3) What additional data and research are needed to fully answer the questions in this area? This comprehensive review of existing literature on the barriers and related approaches to employment for youth with disabilities, reports on USAID and other donor activities that focus on employment for youth with disabilities, and consultations with practitioners and individuals with disabilities helps paint a picture of the landscape of barriers that youth with disabilities face and the various policy measures and interventions being tested or used to address them. A range of promising approaches exists to address foundational attitude issues, skills and knowledge, workplace accessibility and accommodations, and regulations. In many cases, research and data are still needed to determine the effectiveness of approaches in different contexts and with different populations.

The second paper looks specifically at initiatives in Bhutan, Malaysia, and Singapore, focusing on school-to-work transition, inclusive employment, and meaningful community engagement for youth with disabilities. This presentation, through a Critical Capabilities approach, will discuss the unique barriers and assets that exist in each country's context and the approaches used by these initiatives. In particular, it will discuss how opportunities for formal and informal meaningful work and community engagement and resources to support employment and school-to-work transitions vary and are understood differently across different economic contexts.

The final paper explores the relationship between education, employment status, disability, and other characteristics in Tanzania. This study, which is an analysis of Integrated Labor Force Survey and National Panel Survey data, fills a gap in the literature by estimating the returns on education for individuals with disabilities. It examines the importance of disability-inclusive education and how this may reduce barriers to employment for youth.

Sub Unit

• Inclusive Education SIG

Chair

• Emma Venetis, EnCompass LLC

Individual Presentations

• Approaches to Increasing Employment and Quality of Employment Among Youth with Disabilities - Amy Mulcahy-Dunn, EnCompass LLC; Emma Venetis, EnCompass LLC

• Supporting School Transition and Meaningful Work for Youth with Disabilities in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries: Comparison of Initiatives in Asia - Matthew Schuelka, Fora Education & University of Minnesota

• Does investment in disability matter? Disability and labor market participation in Tanzania - Kamal Lamichhane, University of Tsukuba; Takaki Takeda

Discussant

• Suaad Abdulle, Somali Institute of Special Educational Needs and Disability SISEND