“The Only Disability in Life is a Bad Attitude”: A Literature Review on Hindrances in the Professional Front of People with Disabilities

Abstract

Prior studies underline the limited scope of research that has been published in regard to the attitudes of the people towards people with disabilities at a work place and the core of this problem has been investigated through the literature review. The purpose of this article is to draw attention towards the in-depth research in the different dimensions of a phenomenon called “attitude”, with special emphasis on the relationship between employers and employees with no disabilities and the impact of behavioural attitude on the personal and professional integration of people with disabilities in the labour market. To have an in-depth overview of the attitudes of employers and peers towards employees with disabilities, it is also important to have an understanding of this concept from previous researches (both qualitative and quantitative). An electronic and hand search method was adopted to compile journals, books and online material. After reviewing extensive literature, the qualitative findings are discussed from two different standpoints in context of the employability of people with disabilities in the world of work: firstly, influence from personal and social experiences (external influences) and later, influence of the multi-dimensional working environment (internal influences). One of the limitations faced by the authors during this study was the dearth of published articles of recent years in context of the relationship between disability and human resource practices. The findings of this qualitative literature review will be used to develop an instrument to conduct a quantitative study in order to help understand the conceptual impact of attitudes of people with no disabilities and improve the professional inclusion of people with disabilities in the world of work.