Study: Graduates hide disability on applications

UP TO 80% of graduates with a disability conceal it when applying for a job and only 60% of graduates with a disability actually get positions, research has shown.

According to the Association of Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD), which compiled the figures, the same pattern is evident in college applications.

At its Willing Able Mentoring conference in Dublin Castle yesterday, it revealed that in 2007, 5,000 students with a verified disability sat the Leaving Certificate yet a mere 692 of them disclosed a disability on a CAO form.

According to AHEAD, the young people want to prove they can go it alone.

“Many do,” said the organisation’s chairwoman, Ann Heelan.

“But the supports in third level are marvellous and help the student get through the courses. Every year more and more students are disclosing their disability as they hear from other students that supports make it easier.”

Yesterday’s conference looked at the success of the WAM project since its inception three years ago, focusing on how it can develop further.

It has so far developed a number of partnerships with large Irish employers such as IBM, Bank of Ireland and Hamilton Osborne King.

The conference heard from experts in the area of employment and disability including the chairman of Thomas Crosbie Holdings, Alan Crosbie.

Mr Crosbie said: “It is important to be honest about the employment realities in Ireland. The statistics are grim. People with disabilities may no longer be excluded from the workplace. But they are not present in the workplace in anything like the right numbers.

“Today, a person with a disability — physical or intellectual — faces a Hobson’s Choice when going for a job: Tell the whole truth or conceal the disability as long as possible.

“What is certainly true is that employers rarely see a disability as a potential gain to the workplace.

“We flatter ourselves that we have no negative expectations about a person with a disability. But bluntly we are kidding ourselves. And furthermore we are missing the point. The point is that someone with a disability in your workforce is not ‘nearly as good’ as someone without a disability. Someone with a disability may bring something extra.”

Ms Heelan said: “The face of disability is changing; over 5,000 students with disabilities did the Leaving Cert this year. There are 3,000 students with disabilities in higher education, and every year more and more graduate with first and second class honours right across the board. Employers need to wake up to this emerging source of talent.”