Leaders' views key for employees with disabilities: researchers aim to improve work outcomes and limit discrimination for employees with physical and mental health challenges

Despite things such as human resources policies that are designed to ensure equal treatment for all employees, the relationship that people with disabilities have with their supervisors is what really shapes their job outcomes, says a Haskayne School of Business researcher.

“We often talk about the negative outcomes of having a disability,” says Zhanna Lyubykh, a PhD student at the Haskayne School of Business. “My question was, ‘What can be done to improve work experiences for people with disabilities?’”

Lyubykh is the co-author of a study on the problem that was recently published in the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. It was based on a survey of 264 people in the U.S. with musculoskeletal disabilities, along with a separate survey of 221 people who have supervised employees with disabilities. The study was also co-authored by Dr. Mafooz Ansari, PhD, and Dr. Kelly Williams-Whitt, PhD, of the Dillon School of Business at the University of Lethbridge, and Dr. Vicki L. Kristman, PhD, of the EPID@Work Research Institute at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. 

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