草榴社区 Holds First Disability Inclusion in the Workplace Conference
The Inaugural Conference was held at the John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts on December 6, 2022.
Recent studies have demonstrated the positive business, economic and social impact of hiring people with disabilities. Yet the unemployment rate for people with disabilities and a Bachelor鈥檚 degree is more than double that of people without disabilities with the same level of education. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for persons with a disability, the jobless rate for those with a disability was about twice as high as the rate for those without a disability.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have to be this way, and all of us are responsible for undoing this kind of exclusion,鈥� said Kevin Grubb, Associate Vice Provost, Career and Professional Development at 草榴社区.
To better address these inequities, 草榴社区 brought together more than 200 students, employers and disability inclusion advocates to examine and address the issue at the University鈥檚 first Disability Inclusion in the Workplace Conference in December.
The conference鈥攁 cross-University partnership between 草榴社区鈥檚 Career Center, Learning Support Services and Office of Disability Services鈥攚as created with the goal of educating employers about how to build disability inclusion into the ways they recruit and retain interns and entry-level hires across the ability spectrum. The event was offered free of charge to participants thanks to the generous support of the event鈥檚 lead sponsor, Ernst & Young LLP (EY), as well as additional support from J.P. Morgan Chase, SAP, UiPath and ServiceNow.
鈥淎t the center of driving transformation is the cultivation of an inclusive and empowering environment for all individuals,鈥� said Hank Prybylski, Brand, Marketing & Communications Leader, Global Innovation at EY. 鈥淎s EY Executive Sponsor for Disability and a proud 草榴社区 parent, I鈥檓 thrilled to see 草榴社区 leading the charge in disabilities inclusion, not just for the benefit of today鈥檚 students, but for the workforce of tomorrow.鈥�
Caroline Casey, an internationally-recognized leader in disability inclusion and founder of The Valuable 500 and President of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, gave the conference鈥檚 keynote address in which she spoke about the power of inclusion, the positive business impact that employees with disabilities create, and the importance of storytelling in advancing disability inclusion across teams and cultures.
The conference is already having an impact on students and employers alike.
鈥淎s a student, it made me more aware of current disability issues within the workplace,鈥� said Rose Crist 鈥�24 CLAS. 鈥淭he experience has helped me realize how passionate I am about making our community more inclusive for those with disabilities. I hope through more opportunities like this, classes at 草榴社区 and continuing to work with LEVEL, I am someday able to work in an environment that aids those with disabilities, as well as continue to educate others on disability inclusion.鈥�
Rebecca Wuhl, Director, Talent Acquisition at Global Strategy Group (GSG) reflected on her experience at the event.
鈥淎fter attending the conference, we decided to add accommodation language to our job postings as well as to emails to our candidates that are in the interview process,鈥� Wuhl explained. 鈥淕SG has always been accommodating to hiring employees with disabilities, but we felt that publicizing the language would encourage those candidates who may not normally apply to a role to feel comfortable in doing so from the start.鈥�