Supporting Postsecondary Students With Sensory or Mobility Impairments in Reaching Their Career Aspirations

Abstract

This study investigated the kinds of supports postsecondary students who have mobility or sensory impairments perceived as being most effective in assisting them to attain their career aspirations. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 postsecondary students who self-identified as having a permanent mobility or sensory impairment, aged 19 to 32 years. Thorne’s (2008) inductive approach to content analysis was used to extract salient themes from the data. Three core findings emerged, with participants (a) identifying a wide range of individuals as being important sources of support, (b) citing important internal resources perceived to be as important as their social support networks in helping them to reach their goals, and (c) describing fewer environmental and material supports, but still perceived these to be crucial in facilitating educational and career success. Overall, these students were able to identify many kinds of support and experienced success in accessing them. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Keywords

career development career aspirations postsecondary education disabilities–sensory disabilities–motor

An estimated 10% of all postsecondary students in the United States have been diagnosed with some form of disability (Corrigan, 2001; Hennessey, Roessler, Cook, Unger, & Rumrill, 2004). Indeed, according to the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (Newman et al., 2011), 60% of Americans with disabilities had pursued some form of postsecondary education within 8 years of completing high school. Newman et al. (2011) suggested that this increase may be due to enrollment in community college, in which participation rates of young adults who have a disability is higher (44%) than participation rates of those who do not have a disability (20%). The situation is similar in Canada, with 11% of adults with disabilities reporting a university education and 16% having a community college education (Statistics Canada, 2008a, 2008b). This is the inverse of educational attainment for adults without a disability, for whom 18% of the population had a university education and 15% had a community college education (Statistics Canada, 2008a, 2008b). These statistics reveal that people with disabilities have a markedly lower university participation rate but a slightly higher community college participation rate than the general public in Canada.

The evidence for retention of students who have a disability in postsecondary education programs is mixed, with some researchers finding similar retention rates for students with and without a disability (e.g., Hennessey et al., 2004), while others have found that fewer individuals with a disability completed their postsecondary education than those without a disability (Newman et al., 2011). Furthermore, individuals with disabilities who complete postsecondary education have been shown to have better career prospects and substantially higher earning potential than those who do not (Newman et al., 2011). Postsecondary education may be particularly important to promote for persons with sensory and mobility disabilities, given the evidence of high unemployment rates in this population (Shaw, Gold, & Wolffe, 2007; Golub, 2006). This body of evidence suggests the relationship between employment and university participation is complex for individuals with a disability. Although people with disabilities may experience lower university participation and retention rates, those who do complete university are likely to be better off financially than their counterparts.

Students with mobility and sensory disabilities represent a significant proportion of documented disabilities at postsecondary institutions, comprising approximately just over half of all students registered for disability services at colleges and universities (Boutin & Wilson, 2009; Fullarton, 2006; Hennessey et al., 2004). As a result, they form a large subgroup within the total population of students with a disability. Furthermore, given the likelihood that their experiences are different from students with cognitive or mental health disabilities, it is worthwhile to conduct research with this specific subgroup of persons with a disability. In this context, using definitions provided by the federal government of Canada (Statistics Canada, 2008a, 2008b), a sensory disability is defined as a visual, hearing, or speech impairment. A hearing impairment can relate to anyone who has difficulty hearing what is being said in a conversation with one other person, in a conversation with three or more persons, or in a telephone conversation. A visual impairment refers to when a person has difficulty reading ordinary newsprint or clearly seeing someone’s face from 4 m away. Speech impairment is categorized as difficulty speaking and/or being understood. Similarly, mobility disability is defined as an impairment that results in difficulty walking half of a kilometer or up and down a flight of stairs, about 12 steps without resting, moving from one room to another, carrying a 10- pound object for 30 ft or standing for long periods (Statistics Canada, 2008a, 2008b).

One of the difficulties is that students with sensory, mobility, and other disabilities have limited opportunities for internships, summer employment, and off-campus employment experiences (Larson, 2008; McDonnall & Crudden, 2009; Trainor, Carter, & Owens, 2008). In addition, these students have few support services to help facilitate transitions into opportunities such as job coaches and vocational preparation services. (Hennessey et al., 2004). Finding out what kinds of supports are most beneficial in assisting students who have a sensory or mobility impairment to complete their postsecondary education and transition to the world of work will allow for more efficient use of limited funding and may lead to increased use of these supports. Consequently, conducting research on what is most beneficial in supporting these students is an important step in working toward enhancing the career development of this population.

Social support has been defined as a “positive aspect that of exchange between or among parties, offering benefits for the persons involved, families, neighbors, coworkers, organizations, associations, societies and the community” (Racino, 2006, p. 1470). Social support has been found to be a significant factor for helping people overcome barriers and work through challenging situations (Brown & Lent, 2005; Corrigan, 2001; Racino, 2006). For example, having mentors and receiving frequent feedback in the workplace are two forms of social support that can positively contribute to one’s career development (Fullarton, 2006; Reed, 2002). In fact, for people with a disability, a supervisor’s ability to provide social support may be the most influential factor for determining their level of acceptance and success in the workplace (Walker, 2009). Encouragement and recognition of abilities are necessary for a person to believe he or she is capable of performing in occupational roles and having career aspirations (Wilson-Kovacs, Ryan, Haslam, & Rabinovich, 2008). In other words, when people receive support and encouragement from others and form the impression that they have the ability to take on an occupational role, then they will be more likely to learn to develop these expectations for themselves.

Relatively little is known about what kinds of support are perceived to be the most beneficial by postsecondary students with a sensory or mobility disability, or how these supports work to assist this population in attaining their aspirations. The limited body of existing literature suggests the educational achievement of persons who have a disability may be facilitated by a range of social supports, including parents and other family members, role models, mentors, friends, and supportive colleagues (Noonan et al., 2004; Trainor, Lindstrom, et al., 2008). Peer supports, in particular, have been found to stimulate intellectual development in postsecondary students (Smith & Zhang, 2009), as well as coping skills (Antle, Montgomery, & Stapleford, 2009). Furthermore, there is some evidence of the importance of parental support, in terms of career development and successfully achieving occupational outcomes for persons who have a disability (Larson, 2008; Vire, 2006).

Postsecondary students with disabilities appear to have reasonably high career aspirations but low outcome expectations (Corrigan, 2001). They often enter university with unclear expectations for future success, have fewer work experiences than their peers, and are less likely to attend job fairs or seek career services (Hennessey et al., 2004). Unfortunately, institutional career development support services (e.g., career and employment counseling) at the postsecondary level are usually not designed for students with disabilities, and fail to take into consideration that this population may have unique needs for enhancing their level of career development and career preparation (Riconscente, 2004). It is not known whether individuals with disabilities view these services as a source of support despite their limitations, or whether the lack of fit between campus career services and the needs of this population is perceived to be a problem. Indeed, relatively little is known about the experience of social support in postsecondary students with sensory or mobility impairments.

Although the number of students with a diagnosed disability who pursue some form of postsecondary has nearly quadrupled in recent decades (Newman et al., 2011), the employment rate for individuals who have a disability, particularly a sensory or mobility disability, remains low (Corrigan, 2001; Hennessey et al., 2004; Unger, Rumrill, & Hennessey, 2005; Winn, 2007). This disconnect between educational attainment and career outcomes highlights the many barriers this population faces in attaining their career aspirations. Although much is known about these barriers, and interventions have begun to be designed to promote the career development of this population (e.g., Riconscente, 2004; Shaw et al., 2007; Walker, 2009), far less is known about what these individuals themselves perceive to be important in supporting them to reach their goals. This gap in knowledge is problematic because their perceptions may not be the same as those of researchers and practitioners, and knowing what members of this population perceive to be important may generate ideas for improving practice. Consequently, the purpose of the present study is to reduce this gap in knowledge by obtaining information from a sample of young adult university students about what they have experienced to be important in supporting the attainment of their career aspirations.

Method

All procedures were reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Board at the University of New Brunswick. Steps were taken to ensure confidentiality was maintained throughout the research process, including describing people’s specific disabilities only in aggregated form to reduce the likelihood of linking described experiences with any specific individuals. To further preserve anonymity, the specific postsecondary institutions participants were studying in were omitted and their educational programs have been identified in only a general way (e.g., science and technology) rather than specific degrees or certification programs.

Participants

Participants were 15 postsecondary students who self-identified as having a permanent mobility or sensory impairment, selected using purposive sampling to ensure a range of experience in terms of stage of degree completion and type of sensory impairment. Specifically, participants were chosen to represent a range of different disabilities and programs of study. When the maximum number (defined as half the sample) of a specific criterion was reached, no more participants in that category were included. Additional inclusion criteria were that participants had to be studying at a Canadian community college or university and fluent in English. There were 12 women and 3 men. Three participants disclosed having a hearing impairment, 2 having a mobility impairment, 1 having a speech impairment, 8 having a visual impairment, and 1 participant disclosed having both a hearing impairment and a visual impairment. The average age of the participants was 24.4, with a range from 19 to 32, from five provinces in Canada. No data on race or ethnicity were collected. Participants were recruited from (a) the accessibility centers of local universities, (b) the online mailing list of Canada’s National Educational Association for Disabled Students, (c) the Canadian Counsel on Rehabilitation and Work, and (d) the Canadian Association of Disabled Students.

Procedures

Thorne’s (2008) interpretive description approach to exploratory qualitative data collection and analysis was used. This is a constructivist form of naturalistic inquiry that involves examining individuals’ experiences of social and health phenomena using flexible interviewing and close review of transcripts to identify explicit content that participants describe.

Data collection involved the use of individual open-ended interviews that were loosely guided by probing questions related to the topic of interest. The primary researcher interviewed participants. Interviews were conducted via telephone (n = 11), face-to-face (n = 3), or instant messenger (n = 1), depending on each participant’s preferred mode of communication. At the beginning of the interview, the meaning of informed consent was explained, the study and their rights as research participants was described, and verbal consent to participate was obtained. Participants were then asked a series of semistructured questions and follow-up probes to clarify their responses. Questions assessed participants’ perceptions about what constituted social support for them, how these supports were important, and what beneficial and detrimental effects their sources of support had on their attempts to reach their career aspirations—for example, questions such as “What supports have you received in the past that have been helpful?” and “What support do you need in order to reach your career aspirations?” Interviews lasted from 1 to 2 hr in length. Face-to-face and telephone interviews were digitally audio-recorded, and the instant messenger session was saved into a word-processing document.

Analysis for each participant began as soon as an interview was completed, so that data analysis and member-checking for some participants took place before data collection for other participants. Consistent with Thorne’s (2008) recommendations, a content analysis was conducted by the primary researcher, focusing on material that was explicitly present in transcripts and using a process of constant comparison and inductive reasoning. Data were first analyzed for each participant individually, and then examined across the sample as a whole, specifically identifying content addressing (a) what kinds of supports were repeatedly identified as important, (b) what types of barriers does each kind of support help with, and (c) why/how each kind of support was beneficial to participants.

The researchers took several steps to ensure findings were consistent and reflective of participants’ actual experiences. The analysis was grounded explicitly in participants’ descriptions and quotations were used to anchor each of the identified themes. First, approximately 2 months after the interviews were completed, follow-up interviews were conducted, where participants were provided with a written description of the primary researcher’s interpretation of their experience, to evaluate and identify anything that needed to be changed. Participants mostly agreed with the primary researcher’s interpretations, although eight requested minor changes to their descriptions, such as correcting factual information about themselves or identifying additional sources of support. These follow-up interviews allowed the primary researcher to check back with participants to see if she had correctly understood what they meant. This member-checking formed the primary means by which the trustworthiness of the findings was established.

Second, throughout the study, the primary researcher attempted to bracket her own experience as a postsecondary student with a disability to reduce the influence of her own biases on the analysis process. At the time of the study, the primary researcher was a young adult completing a master’s of education in counseling at a public university in Atlantic Canada. She lived her entire life legally blind, due to a degenerative eye condition known as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). She was exposed to other individuals with disabilities through a series of short-term school placements, programs, and activities, and has a sister who is also visually impaired. Therefore, she had a special interest in people with varying levels of abilities/disabilities, and has personally experienced the role that social support can have on one’s career development. She made her own transition to postsecondary education at age 18, and has since engaged in many activities to promote her own career development. While studying for her master’s degree, she was introduced to theories of career development in a vocational development graduate course, which allowed her to identify what she perceived as helpful and unhelpful forms of support for her own career development. The course also familiarized her with relevant theories and allowed her to think about how individuals with varying levels of abilities/disabilities could uniquely be affected by these theories. She also worked as an employment counselor for a vocational rehabilitation center, an experience that further exposed her to the importance of social support on the career development of individuals who have disabilities. Based on her personal experience and reading of the literature, her belief at the beginning of the study was that people who have a disability are more likely to overcome adversity if they have social support. Thus, she anticipated participants would identify numerous forms of support as being helpful for pursuing their career aspirations. She also believed that there is a gap in the literature on including people with disabilities in existing theories of career, and that there is a need to explore and identify positive and practical forms of support that exist. Finally, she hoped that contributing to knowledge in this area through the present study would assist society to be more inclusive.

Finally, two counseling psychologists who conduct research and practice in the areas of vocational psychology and career counseling evaluated the plausibility of the findings after they were written up in their entirety. One of the reviewers had extensive experience working with university students who have a disability and one worked primarily with university students who did not have a disability. Both reviewers provided minor suggestions for change, such as grounding specific findings more extensively within the literature, requesting additional quotations and examples, and shifting some of the categories (i.e., separating the “friends” and the “community” supportive social relationships; combining “environmental” and “material” support into one overarching category).

Results

Although the experiences of participants varied, numerous commonalities existed across the sample. Participants’ descriptions of their supports were organized into the thematic categories of supportive social relationships, personal resources, and material and environmental supports. Specific findings were organized into these three categories primarily on the basis of inductive reasoning (clustering specific experiences that appeared to be conceptually similar), and secondarily with reference to concepts present in the social support literature and in response to suggestions made by the plausibility reviewers.

Supportive Social Relationships

When participants were asked to describe what social support meant to them, they emphasized the importance of having someone to talk to and spend time with. They also perceived various kinds of support as being crucial for assisting them to succeed, including support from (a) family members, (b) friends, (c) community, (d) employers, and (e) educational institution members. As one participant explained, “degree of support is difficult to measure in the mathematical sense,” but the presence of support was a major influencing factor that facilitated success.

Family

Family members, especially parents, were particularly important for participants. Many participants identified their families’ positive beliefs in their abilities to succeed as being an important factor in supporting them to reach their career aspirations, for example, “Any of my family, no one’s ever said to me I can’t do it.” Several participants also reported their parents held strong expectations that they would attend postsecondary education, and offered emotional support and verbal encouragement for this pursuit. Family members also provided encouragement for the pursuit of postsecondary education through their example. Three participants cited the fact that their parents completed university was a motivating force for them. Another participant’s uncle acted as a role model for her by working in the field she eventually chose to study. His example fostered her own belief that she was capable of succeeding in this field.

Friends

In the present study, 13 of 15 participants clearly identified friends they currently have, or who they once had, who acted as a form of support. However, the degree to which friends were identified as supportive varied from interview to interview and some participants spoke about having numerous friends and others spoke about having a few friends. Friends seemed to enhance participants’ community involvement and social interactions as well as practical support. As one participant stated,

Another thing is that obviously in the university atmosphere a person’s friends are one of their main areas of contact. When you have friends you can count on in any situation for support with you know, help with your academics, help with getting around, and help with doing daily activities that might be difficult for you. It’s always good to know that you can have those people that you can rely on or that you know there always there if you require their assistance.

Many participants who described friends as a form of support indicated they recognized and valued their abilities. One participant’s explanation for her friends’ belief in her was because she often receives higher grades than them and has gotten a reputation as being hard working among her friends. She said, “I think they believe in me because I’ve kind of proven that I can do things.” Friends also assisted participants to adjust to transitions they experienced.

Community

Community members and organizations appeared to be another important part of assisting young adults with sensory and mobility impairments to feel connected and supported during their postsecondary education, with all but one of the participants identifying these resources as a source of support. As one participant speculated,

Maybe it wouldn’t have gone as well if I didn’t have like a big team around me, like I said, the social worker and everything. I also had the person for the technology for the CNIB. Also that helped me like figure out what I needed for my equipment and everything.

Community involvement also provided participants with practical experiences that were relevant to their future careers. For example, one participant reported volunteering at a camp for the deaf, and another at a senior’s home. These experiences, although unpaid, confirmed to participants that they were able to engage in employment and provided them with work experience. Some participants were also involved in beneficial social activities. For example, one participant described how he attended a Deaf church in his community and stated that this experience allowed him to further develop his ability to interpret sign language. Moreover, community organizations provided some participants with instrumental support as they pursued their career aspirations, such as orientation and mobility instructors, and employment agencies.

Employers

Some participants also described receiving support from former, current, or prospective employers. They reported supportive employers promoted their belief that they could perform well, and created positive outcome expectations for the future. In addition, most participants described experiences with employers who were flexible enough to provide accommodations they needed to succeed in the workplace. Participants reported feeling supported when employers were willing to make worksites accessible by installing assistive technology.

Educational institution: Staff and faculty

Another category of supportive social relationships that emerged from the interviews was the support of faculty and staff from participants’ educational institutions. Participants described specific staff members at their universities (e.g., residence assistants, note takers, instructors) who provided them with support and encouragement. For example, “The don and the proctors were always going to be there to facilitate when there were needs within the house or in the residence community.” Another participant spoke about how her instructors positively impacted her choice of major,

The 1st year geology prof at [name of university] is amazing, and when I transferred [there] I was actually still a math major, but I decided to sign up for a few geo courses as my extras, and then I changed my major I think 3 days after the start of class.

Personal Resources

The success of young adults with disabilities was not perceived as solely deriving from social supports. Participants also identified two types of personal resources as important in assisting them in pursuing their educational and career aspirations, including (a) their positive self-beliefs and (b) their personal interests/fields of study.

Positive self-beliefs

A majority of participants indicated they believed their own thoughts could have a big impact on their employment outcomes. As one stated, “I certainly believe that I can do anything within reason that I put my mind to and that I work toward with the idea that I can do anything.” Individual traits such as motivation, determination, self-advocacy, and communication skills were all described as contributing to participants’ ability to overcome challenges they experienced, and to obtain desired employment.

Participants’ positive beliefs also represented an important personal resource, one that allowed them to positively reframe challenging situations. For example, several participants stated working through challenges such as discrimination, lack of experience, and negative emotional states allowed them to gain mastery experiences and new skills. In addition, some participants believed that surviving challenging events could enhance their ability to manage future situations. For example,

Well, I mean adversity always brings triumph that should be a law of physics. There’s nothing, especially with all the adversity that I’ve overcame and I will overcome in the future. I have this almost tough as nails mentality when it comes to adversity.

Positive beliefs were also found to assist participants in other ways. These beliefs appeared to facilitate participants’ perceptions of themselves having the ability to reach their goals. The majority of participants described positive beliefs about their capacity to perform in their future career paths, and a few participants also expressed how positive thinking helped them succeed in academic and work settings. As one participant stated, “I think just having the attitude that I’m going to take this on and I’m going to be good at it and that’s all that’s going to matter really helped.” These beliefs also appeared to assist participants to take advantage of opportunities and choose specific courses of action. Several participants indicated that living with a disability has provided them with unique opportunities that have allowed them to benefit from having a disability. For example, one participant described the benefits of being involved in a youth exchange for individuals who have disabilities, while another explained how acquiring her impairment caused her to mature.

Personal interests/fields of study

Individuals’ personal interests also contributed to the career development of these young adults who had sensory or mobility impairments. The majority of participants described how their personal interests led them to pursue certain fields of study. For example, “Psychology really appealed to me. The classes that I take, I find them very interesting to me which means that I happen to do well in them.” Interestingly, 12 of 15 participants chose to study in a bachelor’s of arts program and were pursuing degrees in the social sciences. Only three chose a field in sciences or technology, which are two fields that are highly marketable in the present economy. Participants stated that they chose to study in fields where they believed they could succeed in a work setting, specifically, programs associated with social and human services.

Material and Environmental Supports

Participants identified numerous material and environmental supports that they believed important in helping them achieve their career aspirations, including (a) government policies and programs, (b) changes in the Canadian social environment, and (c) location and services available at their particular postsecondary institution. These supports were believed by these students to be one way that individuals who are like them can be treated more fairly.

Government policies and programs

Participants believed that, without legally mandated institutional educational accommodations, they might not have been able to succeed in academic studies. As one woman stated, “Just knowing that disability services at [name of university] has been really helpful to me . . . just knowing that if I am struggling they are there. That has really been a big help I think.” Participants also perceived that, if policies such as the Canadian federal government’s Employment Equity Act or human rights legislation did not exist, people who have disabilities may not have as much access to equal employment opportunities. However, participants’ awareness and accessing of relevant institutional and governmental support systems must be interpreted in light of their specific career aspirations. As stated previously, many participants were in educational programs where they would have had the opportunity to learn about relevant legislation and institutional supports for persons who have disabilities.

Another reported form of material support from government programs was the financial assistance some participants received from sources outside of themselves and their families. Access to provincial student loans was reported as the most significant form of financial assistance. Participants stated that, without these loans, they would not have been able to afford postsecondary education, which could have prevented them from being able to pursue their career aspirations.

Changing social environment

The broader social environment within society was also perceived as playing a role in assisting participants to succeed. A few participants indicated that they believed Canadian society was taking steps to become more inclusive, and that such movement has helped equalize the playing field for individuals who have a disability in terms of obtaining employment.

Now they have so much human rights. Like, everyone has human rights and you should be able to get any job with or without your disability, it doesn’t matter. It would be discrimination if you’re able to do a job but they don’t give it to you because you’re deaf.

In particular, participants believed certain fields of work would be more accepting of people who have disabilities. Specifically, the helping professions and office work were identified as fields where persons with a disability could encounter a higher degree of support.

Educational institution: Location and services

Participants also identified geographic location and services available at specific postsecondary institutions as factors that supported them in pursuing their career goals. For example, several participants reported their capacity to function and engage with school and work increased when they were able to access public transportation. Many participants also explained that they moved from their hometowns to pursue postsecondary education in urban centers, where there were more services for persons who have disabilities.

Discussion

Increasing numbers of individuals who have disabilities are attending postsecondary (Boutin & Wilson 2009; Fullarton, 2006; Hennessey et al., 2004). However the problem remains that these individuals continue to experience barriers with becoming employed or from advancing their employment status, despite their educational attainment (Bennett, 2009; Brown & Lent, 2005; Hernandez, 2009; Noonan et al., 2004; Reed, 2002; Wilson-Kovacs et al., 2008). As part of the effort to address these barriers, the purpose of the present study was to discover the supports that postsecondary students with mobility and sensory impairments perceived as needing to reach their career aspirations. Participants identified a wide variety of supports for postsecondary students who have a disability as important for being able to achieve their career aspirations, including: (a) supportive social relationships, (b) personal resources, and (c) material and environmental supports.

Perhaps the most important source of support described by participants was the people in their lives who provided them with a wide range of psychological and instrumental supports. Indeed, most participants valued support from social sources very highly, which suggests that it is a prerequisite for achieving career aspirations in this population. These social supports included family members, friends, educational institution staff, employers, and community organizations. The positive influence that family members (parental encouragement and support in particular) can have on a student’s ability to succeed aligns with existing literature indicating that family support can foster career development and the pursuit of career-related goals by promoting self-esteem and efficacy and that parental expectations are a major determinant of child career aspirations (Larson, 2008). Likewise, Vire (2006) noted that moral support from family members is one of the key factors that assist young adults who have disabilities to reach vocational outcomes. Therefore, these findings combine with existing research to make a strong case for the importance of familial, particularly parental, social support as a factor that facilitates postsecondary education for young adults with sensory and mobility impairments.

Consistent with previous research revealing peer supports can be important in fostering coping skills (Antle et al., 2009), intellectual development (Smith & Zhang, 2009), and career achievement (Noonan et al., 2004) for individuals who have a disability, many participants in the present study reported peer supports and friendships as an important source of support, especially in times of transition or when facing barriers. This study not only confirms the importance of friendships as a source of support for individuals who have physical disabilities but also revealed that this type of social support enhanced participants’ community involvement and social interactions. As such, it is possible that peer support had the secondary benefit of preparing students who have a sensory or mobility disability for the social interactions that they are likely to encounter in many workplaces. In summary, participants’ experiences in this study revealed that peer support is an important factor in making the transition to college and adulthood.

Community organizations, employers, and staff and faculty at educational institutions were also identified as being instrumental in helping participants work toward goals. For example, participants reported that supportive staff members help to direct and foster their educational success (though they also reported that not all postsecondary staff were supportive). Participants also perceived employer flexibility and willingness to implement accommodations to be a critical component for allowing them to succeed at the workplace. This perception is consistent with existing research revealing that the implementation of accommodations can alleviate concerns about being able to function in the workplace (Hennessey et al., 2004) and increase graduation rates and positive employment outcomes (Hutchinson, Versnel, Chin, & Munby, 2008). Furthermore, participants’ identification of employers’ willingness to engage in accommodation supports Walker’s (2009) claim that employer flexibility is one of the most important factors that promote obtaining and retaining a job for individuals who have a disability.

Iwasaki and Mactavish (2005) reported social supports have the potential to greatly reduce the negative effects of living in society as a person who has a disability. Similarly, Larson (2008) proposed that young people who have social supports at an early age are better able to adjust to social role changes, and Racino (2006) suggested that social support can assist individuals overcome some negative consequences of challenging situations such as unemployment. The experiences of participants in the present study provide additional evidence to extend the claims of these researchers to the population of young adults with sensory or mobility impairments. Specifically, results revealed that support from family, friends, community, employers, and educational institution sources assisted these individuals to persist with, and pursue, their educational and career aspirations. These social supports also had a positive impact on participant’s perceptions of their ability to attain career aspirations, revealing that other people in these students’ lives not only provide instrumental support but also help to boost their personal resources.

Participants also described a range of personal resources they perceived as supporting and facilitating their educational and career aspirations. They perceived themselves to be active agents in their own lives, whose sense of agency allowed them to persist in pursuing their goals. They also described their own belief in their ability to succeed as being important in allowing them to achieve their goals. This finding confirms, in the specific population of young adults who have a sensory or mobility disability, Corrigan’s (2001) claim that focusing on controllable internal factors (e.g., coping abilities) helps college students who have disabilities to overcome barriers.

The present study also found participants’ personal interests and belief in their ability to succeed influenced their decisions about the fields where they chose to study. This contrasts with Corrigan’s (2001) finding that individuals with a disability make choices based primarily on outcome expectations rather than personal interests. These somewhat different findings may reflect differences in social context. It is possible that Canadian young adults in 2011 feel more able to consider their interests than youth from the United States in 2001. However, the apparent conflict may also be the result of methodological issues. The present design encouraged participants to identify as many supports as they could, which may have given them the freedom to endorse both personal interests and beliefs about their ability to succeed. Furthermore, in the present sample, the fields of study that a majority of participants expressed an interest in were the social and human services fields, which have been previously documented as common career aspirations for people who have disabilities (Corrigan, 2001; Shaw et al., 2007). Although the present findings provide a potential explanation for why these fields are so popular (they are perceived to be “disability friendly” as well as being intrinsically interesting), they also reflect a potential convergence between personal interest and outcome expectations, that may explain why these findings are different from Corrigan’s results.

Participants stated that they chose to study in fields where they believed they could succeed in a work setting, specifically, programs associated with social and human services. The present findings provide a potential explanation for why these fields are so popular: They are perceived to be “disability friendly” as well as being intrinsically interesting.

The third category of phenomena that participants described as being important in supporting their education and career development was the presence of environmental and material supports. Specific supports identified by participants included physical settings and equipment that permitted them to engage in postsecondary education and work tasks, financial assistance, societal attitudes, policies and legislation that made it possible for persons with disabilities to engage in school and work, and services available in certain locations that permitted them to pursue their aspirations. Although participants identified fewer environmental/material supports than social supports and personal resources, the supports in this category were still perceived as being crucial to their success. The importance of such supports is recognized by government policies such as Canada’s Employment Equity Act and Canadian Human Rights Act (Department of Justice Canada, n.d.), along with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act in the United States (Fabian, & Liesener, 2005). These laws were enacted specifically to address some of the systematic barriers individuals who have a disability have historically encountered at school and work.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

Findings of this study need to be interpreted in light of several potential limitations. One such issue is that, because the primary researcher is a young adult with a sensory impairment herself, her own experiences and subjectivity had the potential to exert an influence on the results of the analysis. To manage this risk, the researchers took steps to ensure that the coding process was transparent and comprehensively explained as possible. In addition to the procedures described in the “Method” section, the primary researcher was mindful of the fact that participants could feel pressure to respond in socially desirable ways or be reluctant to communicate their concerns and failures for fear that it represents personal weaknesses. To reduce this risk, the interviewer explained and emphasized the anonymity and confidentiality of responses, and communicated to participants that the purpose of the research was to understand the full range of their experiences, and not to judge or evaluate their abilities. Despite these precautions, the question of how much the self of the researcher influenced the findings that were obtained will only be fully answered through future research replicating this study, but conducted by other groups of researchers.

Another limitation is that 12 of 15 participants were women, increasing the likelihood that experiences unique to young men who have a sensory or mobility disability may not have been fully captured. Indeed, because the purpose of this study was to describe some of the experiences of individuals with disability, saturation was not a goal and the findings should not be thought of as encompassing all possible career development supports for this population. Nevertheless, although the findings may not reflect the full range of young men’s experiences, transferability was enhanced by the fact that participants came from a range of different experiences, backgrounds, disabilities, and aspirations, and by the fact that many of the findings are consistent with previous research on disability and/or career development. A clear direction for future research is to expand this study to more fully examine the supports that young men who have a sensory or mobility disability consider to be important in facilitating their educational and career success. It may also be fruitful to conduct a comparison between males and females, to determine how their experiences are similar and different.

In addition, research is needed to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges and needs of postsecondary students who have a sensory or mobility disability. Participants indicated they were not always able to find people within their social network to be knowledgeable enough to offer satisfactory support. This suggests that improving community awareness surrounding health and cost benefits of supporting student’s career aspirations may be beneficial for this population. Therefore, another future research direction is for community education programs to be developed, implemented, and assessed in terms of their effects. Programming and interventions to improve knowledge of and access to support systems for students who have a disability should also be developed and evaluated. In addition, it must be recognized that employment rates for persons who have disabilities vary across different regions of Canada and by different categories of disabilities (Statistics Canada 2008a, 2008b). As a result, replicating the current study nationally, attending to the factors that support and impede success that may differ between the provinces and for people from different specific disability populations could extend the findings of this study in important ways. Similarly, replication in different nations is necessary to determine to what degree the emergent results reflect universal experiences of young adults who have a sensory or mobility disability.

Implications for Practice

Reflecting on the importance of social support in the lives of participants in the present study will allow professionals to strive to become a source of support for young adults who have a disability by providing guidance and information as well as emotional support. A couple of participants specifically mentioned the positive support they had received through professionals who recognized their interests and built upon their strengths, suggesting that adopting strengths-based approaches to counseling (e.g., Kosine, Steger, & Duncan, 2008; Schutt, 2007; Smith, 2006) may be particularly effective with this population.

Findings also indicate that it may be beneficial for professionals to provide students with relatable role models in their careers of interest. This is because participants perceived support from others to be important for achieving developmental milestones such as entry into university, completing their degrees, maintaining employment, and developing occupational and life skills. As such, practitioners would do well to help young adults with disabilities develop a supportive social network that includes others with whom they can relate. This may include involvement in group-oriented activities that are intentionally designed to facilitate educational and career progress (e.g., a study group, a job-finding club). However, based on participants’ descriptions, another potentially important source of social support would be involvement in volunteer or civic-oriented activities, or in hobbies and interests that are socially oriented, where friendships can be formed with individuals who may eventually become sources of support to them. Furthermore, if individuals with sensory or mobility difficulties are also found to have deficits in their ability to develop social relationships, cognitive-behavioral social skills training may be required.

Findings also revealed personal resources played an important role in facilitating the educational and career success of young adults with sensory or mobility disabilities. Specifically, many participants disclosed multiple types of internal resources (i.e., skills, interests, mastery experiences, beliefs, emotional states) as contributing to their success in an academic or work setting, which suggests they may be able to use these resources as a means of overcoming barriers and reaching career aspirations. Therefore, it may be important for educators and counseling professionals to become aware of the potential benefits of these personal resources, so they can be explicitly targeted for improvement when working with postsecondary students who have a disability. Indeed, individual or group interventions designed to help youth identify and build up their personal resources (e.g., Galassi & Akos, 2007; Kosine et al., 2008; Schutt, 2007) may be essential for promoting healthy career development in the population of postsecondary students who have a disability.

As indicated by participants’ opinions of the importance of supportive government policies and programs, as well as disability-related services provided by postsecondary institutions to their success, environmental and material supports can form an important part of young adults’ plans for educational and career success. However, to access these supports, students who have a disability must be aware of relevant legislation and what is available through their places of education and employment. Consequently, they may benefit from interventions to enhance their awareness of available and legally mandated accommodations. Teaching assertiveness skills may also enhance a person’s ability to cope and overcome the barriers that they face.

Finally, addressing the finding that participants chose their programs of study partly due to geographic location, it may be beneficial for professionals to help individuals who are planning to pursue university to first consider type or quality of programs that are available at different institutions and then assist them to form a realistic evaluation of the available supports at the locations that are the best fit for them. Although this does not resolve difficulties if a good program does not provide adequate accommodation, it is likely to open up more possibilities for prospective students who have a disability.

Conclusion

Overall, the present study has provided useful information and insights from the perspectives of participants themselves about the support that is needed to help postsecondary students with sensory or mobility disabilities reach their career aspirations. The interviews, conducted with 15 young adults revealed supportive social relationships, environmental supports, and personal resources were all perceived as potential sources of support in helping them pursue their postsecondary education and chosen career paths.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The first author would like to thank Dr. Jeffrey Landine, a member of her thesis committee, who provided feedback on earlier drafts of this article.

Authors’ Note

The first author completed this study in partial fulfillment of an MEd degree in Counseling at the University of New Brunswick.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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