Neurodiversity and Work, 1st ed. 2024 Employment, Identity, and Support Networks for Neurominorities Palgrave Studies in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenization in Business Series

This interdisciplinary work explores creating more inclusive workplaces around neurodiversity. It focuses on how organizations can promote true inclusion for neurominorities, a large segment of the emerging workforce while underlining the difficulties as well as the strength-based characteristics faced by this population.

Beyond social, learning or communication challenges, neurominorities are often highly intelligent, honest, authentic, hyper-focused, innovative, skilled in various forms of perception, reliable, and resilient. Discovering ways for true inclusion can add value to organizations, helping all employees to learn and develop as colleagues while also helping neurominorities fulfill the goals of achieving dignity, respect, independence, and flourishing through work. 

This volume connects neurodiversity to disability in the workplace and examines the factors that contribute to the successful employment and integration of neurodiverse workers, including the transition from school to the labor market. It also highlights barriers and challenges faced by neurominorities. 

This book will appeal to scholars across business and the social sciences looking to better understand how neurodiversity should be addressed in organizational contexts. The multidisciplinary approach will accelerate management research and practices by providing insights already captured across a wide variety of disciplines, rather than prompting management researchers to build upon what currently exists solely in the management literature

●       

Connecting the threads: The growth in

scholarship, the growth in practice: The diversity of perspectives.

Part A: Defining the Neurodiversity Experience

Chapter 1: Defining Neurodiversity: How it

Emerged and the Predicted Impacts on Employment

Authors: Kristen Bottema-Beutel (Education)

https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/lynch-school/faculty-research/faculty-directory/kristen-bottema-beutel.html

S.K. Kapp (Psychology, UK)

https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/en/persons/steven-kapp

Nancy Doyle (Psychology,

UK)

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nancy-Doyle-2

●       

History of diagnosis and

labeling of neurodivergent conditions

●       

Shift in perspective to

neurodiversity

●       

Implications of the

shift for employment practices

●       

Current state of

progress toward the shift

●       

Future directions

Chapter 2: The Neurodiverse Identity

Authors: Kristen Gillespie-Lynch

                https://www.csi.cuny.edu/campus-directory/kristen-gillespie-lynch

●       

Distinguishing identity

from medical labels

●       

How the neurodiverse

identity might influence a worker’s behavior in career decision-making, job

search, and self-presentation 

Chapter 3: Strength-based Models of

Neurodiversity

Authors: Michelle Donelly (Faculty of Health, Australia)

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michelle-Donelly

Lawrence Fung (Medicine)

 https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/lawrence-fung

●       

General talents that

emerge from challenge and limitations

●       

Specific/specialized

features of neurodivergence

●       

Career success and

occupational fit for strengths developed through neurodiversity experiences

Chapter 4: Neurodivergence as a Stigmatized

Identity

Authors<:  Tiffany Johnson

(Management)

    https://www.scheller.gatech.edu/directory/faculty/johnson/johnson_vita.pdf             

               Brent Lyons (Business) https://schulich.yorku.ca/faculty/brent-lyons/

              Kayla

Follmer (Management)

              https://business.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff/directory/profile?pid=3410

●       

Consequences of stigma

for social relationships and advancement opportunities

●       

Impact of stigma on

identity and impression management of workers (including disclosure)

●       

Consequences of stigma

and identity management for health and well-being of neurodiverse workers

Chapter

5: Social Policy, Employment Law and Societal Norms

Authors :  Todd Van Wieren (Disability) https://www.iup.edu/disabilitysupport/personnel/

                Andrea

Lollini (Law)  https://www.uchastings.edu/people/andrea-lollini/

●       

Relevant national

legislation in US and the UK

●       

Comparable legislation

internationally

●       

Non-Binding

International Conventions (United Nations, etc)

●       

The Role of

Organizations: Beyond Legal Compliance

Part B: Neurominorities in the neurotypical workplace

Chapter 6: The Business Case for Neurodiversity

Authors:  Anna Krzeminska

(Management) 

https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/anna-krzeminska/publications/

                Mikki Hebl

(Psychology/Management) https://www.mikkihebl.com/

          Robert

Austin (Information Systems)

          https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/faculty/directory/rob-austin/

●       

Motivations to hire

neurodiverse workers

●       

Evidence for success

●       

How does it compare to

business case features and outcomes for other worker diversity?

●       

Qualifying factors that

facilitate or hinder business case expectations

Chapter 7: Neurodiversity and the Ethical

Workplace

Authors:  Debra Comer (Hofstra)

Timothy Vogus (Vanderbilt)

Chapter 8: Recruiting and Selection of neurominorities

Authors: Hurley-Hanson, A.E., & Giannantonio, C.M. (Chapman

University)

Chapter 9: Accommodations and Neurodiversity

Authors: Susanne Bruyere (Disability/IO Psych)

   https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/people/susanne-bruyere

Adrienne Colella (Management)

    https://freeman.tulane.edu/faculty-research/management/adrienne-colella

●       

Neurodivergence as

“disability”

●       

Required accommodations

in non-inclusive workspaces

●       

Compliance evidence for

accommodation requests

●       

Effectiveness of

accommodations if granted

●       

Future refinements to

accommodations and related processes within organizations

Chapter 10: Allyship & Creating a Climate

for Neurodiversity

Authors: David Dwertmann (Management)

  https://business.camden.rutgers.edu/faculty-profiles/dr-david-dwertmann/

  Robert

Keating (Psychology, IIT; theory vs practices in inclusive workplaces)

  Quinetta Roberson (https://broad.msu.edu/profile/robers96/)

  Christine Nittrouer (Management)

 https://www.depts.ttu.edu/rawlsbusiness/people/faculty/management/christine-nittrouer/index.php

●       

Defining and identifying

the components of diversity climate and effectiveness in supporting

neurodiversity.

●       

What is allyship? How

does neurodiversity allyship compare to other forms? Are there unique features?

Unique considerations? Different levels of success in creating neurodiversity

climate?

●       

Key outcomes for

individual workers and organizations when neurodiversity climate is established

●       

Key examples from

organizational practices and research that support neurominorities

●       

Evidence for success for

success in maintaining diversity climates and neurodiversity climates

●       

Qualifying conditions that support or create

barriers to neurodiversity climate

●       

Recommendations to

prepare an organization for allyship and developing positive neurodiversity

climate

●       

Future directions for

research and practice

Part C: Agency & Networks: 

Support Structures for neurominorities

Chapter 10: Career Management and

Decision-making among Neurodivergent Workers

Authors: Mukta Kulkarni (OBHR, India) https://www.iimb.ac.in/user/86/mukta-kulkarni

Daniel Samosh  (OBHR, Canada)

                  https://www.cirhr.utoronto.ca/people/directories/graduate-students/dan-samosh

●     Employment trends by sector, occupation, and

organization features for neurodiverse workers

●       

Factors that affect

workers’ decisions about career choice

●       

Factors that affect

workers’ decisions about job choice

●       

Factors that affect workers’

decisions about organization

Chapter 11: Lessons from Education: High School

and Vocational programs to support neurominorities

Authors:   Sally Lindsay

(Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy)

    https://rsi.utoronto.ca/faculty/sally-lindsay

Roux, A. M., (Drexel University)

ELIZABETH MCGHEE HASSRICK (Drexel University)

●       

Neurodiversity in high

school populations

●       

Supporting the neurodivergent

learner

●       

Training and guidance

for students to facilitate employment/higher education

Chapter 12: The neurodivergent college student:

From the inclusive campus to the workplace

Authors:  

Ashleigh Hillier (Psychology) 

    https://www.uml.edu/fahss/psychology/faculty/hillier-ashleigh.aspx

Theresa McFalls (Special Education) 

    https://www.sju.edu/kinney/staff/theresa-mcfalls

●       

Neurodiversity

college/university populations

●       

Neurominorities in

neurotypical classrooms

●       

Trends in entry into

workforce and successful employment

●       

Education/Industry

partnerships to support career success

Chapter 13: Entrepreneurship and Neurodiversity

Authors:  Johan Wiklund

(Management)

                https://whitman.syr.edu/directory/showinfo.aspx?id=319

●     External push factors and pull factors leading

to self-employment for Neurodiverse individuals

●     The entrepreneurship fit for the neurodiverse:

Capitalizing on strengths and mitigating challenges

●     Social entrepreneurship and neurodiversity

●     Supporting entrepreneurship for neurominorities

Chapter 14: Networks of support: Success stories

of partner organizations in connecting neurominorities to work

Authors:  Jennifer Spoor (Management) 

https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/jspoor/publications

●       

The role of partner

organizations in supporting Neurodiverse workers and organizations

●       

Organizations that

support families

●       

Organizations that

support individuals that help Neurodiverse workers gain employment

●       

Organizations that

provide on-site support and training on neurodiversity in organizations

Conclusion: Santuzzi & Patton

●       

Reiterating the importance of factors at

multiple levels and during several career development phases (K-12 through

advanced higher education) to shape employment experiences of neurominorities

●       

The road ahead & creating

a neurodiversity network.

Eric Patton is Professor of Management at Saint Joseph’s University, USA and Director of the HR & People Management undergraduate program. His research focuses on mental health in the workplace, absence from work, and gender issues in management. 

Alecia M. Santuzzi is Professor in the Social-Industrial/Organizational Psychology Program and Director of Research Methodology Services at Northern Illinois University, USA. Her most recent work considers social and individual factors that contribute to a worker’s decision to disclose a disability, and the costs and benefits of those decisions.

Fills a gap in research on the intersection of neurodiversity with other forms of diversity (race, gender identity, etc)

Addresses the career from formal education to workforce entry to hiring to retention and integration into a workplace

Explains how neurodiversity conditions are different from most workplace disabilities/differences