216 lines
7.2 KiB
YAML
216 lines
7.2 KiB
YAML
abstract: 'Purpose The Government of Canada is adopting the pedagogical practice of
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Work Integrated Learning (WIL) to help youth develop the career ready
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skills needed to transition from school to work. As a result, colleges
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and universities are receiving funding to grow academic programs that
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link theoretical learning with practical work experience. However, there
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is limited research about the resources available to students with
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disabilities who engage in WIL. From an environmental scan of disability
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supports for WIL on 55 Canadian post-secondary institutions'' websites
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and survey results from WIL professionals we ask: Do post-secondary
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institutions in Canada help students with disabilities become career
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ready? The data reveals that 40\% of schools have no reference to
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disability services for any career related activities and only 18\%
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refer to disability supports for WIL. Survey respondents report they are
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not being trained nor have access to resources to support students with
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disabilities in WIL. The authors therefore recommend changes to public
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policy and resource allocation to ensure colleges and universities
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provide disability services for all WIL programs, train practitioners
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about career related disability management, and hire professionals who
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specialize in supporting students with disabilities in WIL.
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Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted an environmental scan
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of 55 Canadian post-secondary schools with a student population of
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10,000 or more and identified services and resources publicly advertised
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online for students with disabilities in relation to employment and/or
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WIL activities. From this broad search, codes were developed based on
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general themes found in the recorded information, such as the location
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of information and the type of resources and services advertised for
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students with disabilities. During the environmental scan, the authors
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also collected names and emails of people listed as working in career
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and/or WIL departments who received an anonymous survey about their
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experiences working with students with disabilities. Findings As the
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Government of Canada expands WIL to improve labour market outcomes for
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youth, the research findings of the authors provide valuable evidence
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that post-secondary institutions are not supporting youth with
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disabilities to become career ready. Surprisingly, 40\% of
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post-secondary institutions have no reference to disability supports for
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career related activities and only 18\% reference supports available for
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engaging in WIL on their websites. In addition, WIL practitioners are
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not receiving the resources nor training to support this demographic to
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transition from school to work. This research can provide direction on
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resource allocation; specifically, the need for disability related
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supports and dedicated professionals for students who engage in WIL
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programs in higher education. Research limitations/implications A
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limitation of the methodology in scanning public sites is that
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universities and colleges could have services or supports advertised on
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sites that can only be viewed by the faculty, staff and students from
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that school. Thus, it is possible that employment information for
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students with disabilities is available for those with login privileges.
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The authors attempted to mitigate this limitation by collecting survey
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responses about programs and services from WIL practitioners who work at
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the schools. The authors also did not measure marketing of services on
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social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram).
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Another limitation is that the WIL practitioner survey results are based
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on their perceptions.
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The sample size was not randomized, nor can the authors confirm it is a
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representative sample of all WIL practitioners in Canada. Practical
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implications As countries continue to grapple with how to deal with the
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intersectionality of disability on an already disadvantaged demographic
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in the labour market, they must ensure that students with disabilities
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have access to career ready activities while in school. The authors
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therefore recommend public policy and resource allocation, not only in
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Canada but at a global level, that ensures post-secondary institutions:
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(1) create disability management programs and resources for all WIL and
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career activities; (2) hire dedicated professionals who specialize in
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working with students with disabilities in WIL; and (3) provide
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mandatory training for WIL practitioners on how to support students with
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disabilities in programs that develop their career ready skills. Social
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implications Preparing students with disabilities to be career ready
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when they graduate will benefit the Canadian economy. This wasted human
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capital not only negatively impacts a labour market with an aging
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demographic, it affects social service programs as Canadians with
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disabilities are one-third times more likely to live in poverty compared
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to Canadians without disabilities (Canadian Survey on Disability, 2017).
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The G20 report also stated that if employment rates for people with
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disabilities who are able to work were the same as for people without
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disabilities, economies around the world could increase their GDP by
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3-7\% (ILO and OECD, 2018). Originality/value There is no research in
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Canada to date that provides a national overview of the services in
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higher education advertised to support students with disabilities in
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WIL.'
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affiliation: 'Gatto, LE (Corresponding Author), Univ Guelph, Sch Comp Sci, Guelph,
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ON, Canada.
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Gatto, Laura E.; Antonie, Luiza, Univ Guelph, Sch Comp Sci, Guelph, ON, Canada.
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Pearce, Heather, Univ Guelph, Dept Psychol, Guelph, ON, Canada.
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Plesca, Miana, Univ Guelph, Dept Econ \& Finance, Guelph, ON, Canada.'
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author: Gatto, Laura E. and Pearce, Heather and Antonie, Luiza and Plesca, Miana
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author-email: 'gattol@uoguelph.ca
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hpearce@uoguelph.ca
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lantonie@uoguelph.ca
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miplesca@uoguelph.ca'
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author_list:
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- family: Gatto
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given: Laura E.
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- family: Pearce
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given: Heather
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- family: Antonie
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given: Luiza
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- family: Plesca
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given: Miana
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da: '2023-09-28'
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doi: 10.1108/HESWBL-08-2019-0106
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earlyaccessdate: APR 2020
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eissn: 2042-390X
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files: []
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issn: 2042-3896
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journal: HIGHER EDUCATION SKILLS AND WORK-BASED LEARNING
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keywords: 'School to work transition supports; Work integrated learning; Students
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with disabilities; Work integrated learning practitioners; Inclusive
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education'
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keywords-plus: 'YOUNG-ADULTS; EMPLOYMENT; EXPERIENCES; TRANSITION; EDUCATION; BARRIERS;
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OUTCOMES'
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language: English
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month: JAN 26
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number: '1'
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number-of-cited-references: '56'
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orcid-numbers: Gatto, Laura E/0000-0001-7748-7900
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pages: 125-143
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papis_id: c29230a38ab09f21817a19140d1d5f28
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ref: Gatto2021workintegrated
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researcherid-numbers: Gatto, Laura E/N-8468-2018
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times-cited: '5'
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title: 'Work integrated learning resources for students with disabilities: are post-secondary
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institutions in Canada supporting this demographic to be career ready?'
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type: article
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unique-id: WOS:000528876600001
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usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
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usage-count-since-2013: '22'
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volume: '11'
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web-of-science-categories: Education \& Educational Research
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year: '2021'
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