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Autistic students’ experiences of employment and employability support while studying at a UK university
Background: Studying at a university can provide students with better opportunities of employment. However, autistic people are more likely to be unemployed after graduating than their non-autistic peers. Many university programmes include integral internships/placements that require students to eng...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Default Article |
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2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/26893159.v1 |
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| Summary: | Background: Studying at a university can provide students with better opportunities of employment. However, autistic people are more likely to be unemployed after graduating than their non-autistic peers. Many university programmes include integral internships/placements that require students to engage with the world of work including recruitment and selection processes. While it is known that autistic people often face difficulties in workplace settings generally, this study sought to explore how autistic students at a high-ranking UK university experienced work and employment processes and settings. Methods: The reflections of 12 autistic students, who had been engaging with work and employment processes and work organisational settings during their time as university students, were collected via an in-depth qualitative survey comprising 25 questions. This provided data that, via analysis, offers a composite subjective voice for autistic people receiving disability support services provided by universities. Results: Four key themes were identified. Firstly, the reflections of these autistic students revealed a confident awareness of skills/talents that their autism enabled them to offer to employers . Secondly, the analysis revealed that the support offered by the University to provide employability support to autistic students was bureaucratically structured such that it might be experienced as unhelpfully fractured. Thirdly, support for autistic students while working away from the university campus (e.g. on an internship/placement) was found to be somewhat deficient. Fourthly, the data revealed that autistic students can clearly articulate the deficiencies of the support provided to them and how those deficiencies might be addressed to enhance their employability skills and, by extension, their opportunities for success in the labour market. Conclusions: Autistic students would benefit from their universities adopting a more holistic approach to supporting them by engaging with (potential) employers and co-workers. Specifically, there is a need for university disability support personnel to develop their knowledge and skills in careers and employability matters to a level similar to those working in university careers and placement support teams. There is also a need for autistic students to be better supported while away from campus at a work placement. |
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