The lives and livelihood of 2.68 crore persons with disabilities (PwD) in India are often laced with serious challenges that impede their ability to access and maintain employment. Though past studies have emphasized a compelling need for increased insights to help address the employability and employment related challenges faced by PwD, this remains an under-researched area in global and indigenous literature. Towards this, the present study aims to examine organizational interventions and individual/contextual factors that impact employability of PwD, from both the individual and employer perspectives.



First, we started by reviewing extant literature on workplace disability inclusion in the formal sector in India and presented an integrated model based on emergent themes. Aligning with two of the themes identified in the literature review, namely disability inclusive practices and individual level experiences, the empirical study was conducted in two phases. The first phase was designed as a qualitative study, where we examined interventions adopted in contemporary organizations in India to enhance employability of PwD with respect to (a) recruitment and selection and (b) assignment of PwD to suitable job positions. Participants for this first phase of our empirical study included management representatives of seventeen organizations that employ PwD. Data was collected through interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis techniques. Highlighting organizational determinants that directed employer decisions on targeted recruitment of PwD, as well as the five stages of the job matching process, we reported on how such inclusive interventions can help enhance employability of PwD within organizations.

Having explored employer perspectives in the first phase, phase 2 focused on the individual level of analysis through a quantitative study design. Based on secondary data of 441 PwD employed in the organized sector in India, we drew on the intersectionality framework to propose and test hypotheses on the effects of intersection of demographic characteristics on earnings of PwD. Findings highlighted that demographic differences (gender, type of disability, education) intersect with disability to impact employment outcomes (earnings).

Our final empirical study focused on examining perspectives of PwD on their own perceived employability. Based on employer narratives from phase 1, and considering personal resources such as protean career orientation (PCO) and job self-efficacy (JSE) as critical work resources along with contextual resources such as co-worker support (CWS) and idiosyncratic deals (I-deals), we examined their impact on perceived employability of PwD. Using survey data collected from 181 PwD employed in public and private sector organizations in India, we tested hypothesized linkages using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results illustrated a positive direct relationship between PCO/CWS/i-deals and perceived employability.

The study discusses implications for theory and practice.