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Inclusion Practices for Neurodivergent Individuals : A Qualitative Study on Managers' Ideas about Inclusion Practices

Individuals that are diagnosed with a neurodiverse condition (including, among other things, ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and Tourette syndrome) are not feeling included in organizations in today’s society. The feeling of not being included stems from experiencing discrimination, from bullying and harassment, and not given the same opportunities regarding succeeding at work. The discrimination experienced by neurodiverse individuals in work environments is partly a result of the managers' limited knowledge about the various neurodiverse conditions and how to include them in organizations. In Sweden between 10-15% have a neurodiverse condition, 3% of adults have ADHD, 1-2% have autism, 0,5% have Tourette’s syndrome and 5-8% have dyslexia which indicates that the problem with including neurodiverse individuals is affecting a portion of the population as well as the organizations themselves. This study’s purpose is to examine what managers’ ideas are about how to promote inclusion for neurodivergent employees in Swedish organizations. To conduct this research a literature review was carried out to gather knowledge about neurodiversity and the conditions the term entails, inclusion and the problems of employment for individuals with neurodiversity and it guided the research to a gap in previously written studies. An interview guide was created to use during the semi-structured interviews, a total of five interviews were performed both through online video chats and in person to gather relevant, in-depth information to answer the research question. The results indicated that managers are on the right track in progressing towards promoting inclusion of neurodivergent individuals during the stages of attracting, orientation and familiarization, and in training. However, the interviews also indicated that managers could devote more efforts in adapting towards neurodivergent individuals in the stages of recruitment process, performance tracking, progression plans, and in evaluating processes. Interestingly, as seen in the findings regarding the stages of creating awareness and keeping employees, the managers understand the importance of educating themselves and other employees regarding neurodiversity within their organization. Although, the overall findings indicates that their knowledge regarding neurodiversity is insufficient, even though they are advocating for the significance of including neurodivergent individuals in organizations. A possible reason for the lacking adjustment in inclusion practices towards neurodivergent individuals is that organizations need further resources in terms of human resources as well as the economic aspects of it. Finally, the study shows that the majority of the managers had not reflected anything regarding potentially negative outcomes from the signals that inclusion practices can produce and be perceived by other employees within the organization, which can be crucial in understanding how to successfully implement inclusion practices for neurodivergent individuals

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-226933
Date January 2024
CreatorsSandström, Emil, Öst, Isa
PublisherUmeå universitet, Företagsekonomi
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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