Understanding The Barriers To Hiring Autistic People As Perceived By Employers

Despite increasing awareness of autism, employment rates for autistic adults remain significantly lower than for the general population.

This disparity may partly stem from employers’ limited knowledge about autism and how to support autistic employees effectively.

Understanding this link is crucial, as it could reveal key barriers in the hiring process and workplace integration.

Studying this relationship can inform targeted interventions and policies to improve employment outcomes for autistic individuals.

Day, M., Wood, C., Corker, E., & Freeth, M. (2024). Understanding the barriers to hiring autistic people as perceived by employers in the United Kingdom. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241301493

Key Points

• The study explored barriers to hiring autistic people from the perspective of employers in the UK, using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation – Behaviour (COM-B) framework.
• Intentions to hire autistic people were higher for younger participants, men, those with higher autism knowledge, and more experience hiring autistic people.
• Key barriers included lack of knowledge about autism and how to make workplace adjustments, as well as limited opportunities to hire autistic people.
• Most participants were motivated to hire autistic people and make adjustments, but lacked practical knowledge and organizational processes to do so.
• Qualitative data revealed employer concerns about workplace relationships, productivity, and need for training/adjustments to hiring processes.
• The study suggests important targets for intervention are improving employer knowledge of autism and building more inclusive hiring practices.
• Findings are significant for developing policies to improve employment outcomes for autistic people in the UK.

Rationale

Employment rates for autistic adults in the UK are significantly lower than for non-autistic adults, with only about 3 in 10 autistic adults employed compared to 8 in 10 non-disabled people (Office for National Statistics, 2022).

This employment gap has substantial implications for autistic individuals’ wellbeing and independence, as well as economic consequences.

To address this issue, the UK government has prioritized supporting more autistic people into employment in its National Autism Strategy (GOV.UK, 2021).

While previous research has highlighted the importance of workplace adjustments for autistic employees (Annabi & Locke, 2019; Davies et al., 2023), less is known about employers’ perspectives on barriers to hiring autistic people.

Understanding these barriers is crucial for developing evidence-based solutions to improve employment outcomes.

This study aimed to systematically evaluate factors affecting hiring intentions using behavioral science frameworks, specifically the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation – Behaviour (COM-B) model and Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF).

Method

The study used a cross-sectional survey design with both quantitative and qualitative components.

Procedure

Participants completed an initial screening survey to determine eligibility, followed by a main survey assessing knowledge of autism, hiring intentions, and factors related to hiring autistic people based on the COM-B framework.

Optional open-ended questions were included to gather qualitative data on perceived barriers and facilitators.

Sample

The final sample consisted of 1,212 non-autistic participants with recent hiring experience (within the past 5 years) in the UK.

The sample was nationally representative, with participants from various industries, business sizes, and geographical locations.

Measures

• Autism knowledge: Autism Symptomatology Knowledge Assessment (ASKA) and Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire (ASK-Q)
• Perceived autism knowledge: 6-item questionnaire (McMahon et al., 2020)
• Experience with autism: Custom questions on workplace experience and personal contacts
• COM-B items: 43 items assessing factors related to Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation
• Intentions to hire: 3-item scale

Statistical measures

• Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations)
• Linear regressions
• Multiple linear regression
• Correlations
• Interpretive content analysis for qualitative data

Results

Hypothesis 1: Higher levels of autism knowledge will be associated with stronger intentions to hire autistic people.

Result: Supported. Both perceived and actual knowledge (measured by ASK-Q) were positively associated with hiring intentions.

Hypothesis 2: Previous experience hiring autistic people will be associated with stronger intentions to hire.

Result: Supported. Perceived hiring experience was the strongest predictor of intentions to hire autistic people.

Hypothesis 3: Demographic factors (age, gender, business size) will influence hiring intentions.

Result: Partially supported. Younger age and male gender were associated with stronger intentions to hire. Business size had a small but significant effect, with larger businesses showing slightly stronger intentions.

Hypothesis 4: Key barriers to hiring autistic people will be related to knowledge and organizational processes.

Result: Supported. The most commonly experienced barriers were related to lack of knowledge about autism and workplace adjustments, as well as limited organizational processes for implementing adjustments.

Insight

This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing employers’ intentions to hire autistic people in the UK.

The findings reveal a complex interplay between knowledge, experience, and organizational factors that shape hiring decisions.

Notably, while employers generally expressed positive attitudes and high motivation to hire autistic people, they identified significant barriers in terms of practical knowledge and organizational readiness.

The strong association between previous hiring experience and intentions to hire autistic people suggests a potential “positive feedback loop” where initial successful experiences can lead to increased future hiring.

This highlights the importance of supporting employers through their first experiences of hiring autistic individuals to build confidence and competence.

The study also reveals a concerning mismatch between perceived and actual knowledge about autism among employers.

This gap could lead to misunderstandings or stereotyped beliefs about autistic employees’ capabilities, potentially limiting job opportunities.

Addressing this knowledge gap through targeted education and training could be a key intervention point.

The identification of organizational barriers, such as lack of processes for implementing workplace adjustments, suggests that policy interventions should focus not only on individual employer attitudes but also on systemic changes within organizations to create more inclusive hiring practices.

Implications

The findings have significant implications for policy development and workplace interventions aimed at improving employment outcomes for autistic people in the UK.

They suggest a multi-faceted approach is needed, addressing both individual and organizational factors:

1. Education and training: Develop comprehensive autism awareness and inclusion training programs for employers, focusing on practical knowledge about workplace adjustments and challenging stereotypes.
2. Organizational change: Support businesses in developing and implementing inclusive hiring processes and workplace adjustment policies. This could include providing templates, guidelines, and resources for creating autism-friendly work environments.
3. Experience-building initiatives: Create programs that facilitate positive hiring experiences for employers, such as internships or work placement schemes for autistic individuals. These could help build employer confidence and competence in working with autistic employees.
4. Policy development: Use the identified barriers to inform national and local employment policies, ensuring they address both individual employer knowledge and systemic organizational barriers.
5. Targeted interventions: Develop interventions tailored to specific industries or business sizes, addressing unique challenges and opportunities in different work contexts.
6. Monitoring and evaluation: Implement systems for tracking the implementation and effectiveness of workplace adjustments, helping organizations learn from their experiences and continuously improve their practices.

Strengths

The study had many methodological strengths including:

• Large, nationally representative sample of employers from various industries and business sizes
• Use of established behavioral science frameworks (COM-B and TDF) to systematically assess barriers
• Combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, providing rich and comprehensive data
• Use of validated measures for assessing autism knowledge
• Pre-registration of the study protocol, enhancing transparency and reproducibility
• Involvement of a steering group including autistic adults, ensuring relevance and appropriateness of the research

Limitations

The study has several limitations that should be considered when interpreting the results:

1. Self-selection bias: Participants were recruited through Prolific, which may not fully represent the broader population of UK employers. Those who chose to participate may have had more interest or positive attitudes towards autism employment.
2. Self-report measures: The study relied on self-reported intentions and experiences, which may be subject to social desirability bias, particularly given the sensitive nature of the topic.
3. Cross-sectional design: The study provides a snapshot of attitudes and intentions but cannot establish causal relationships or track changes over time.
4. Focus on intentions rather than behavior: While intentions are important predictors of behavior, there may be a gap between reported intentions and actual hiring practices.
5. Limited exploration of industry-specific factors: While the study included participants from various industries, it did not deeply explore how barriers might differ across specific sectors.
6. Potential oversimplification of autism: The study necessarily used general measures of autism knowledge and attitudes, which may not capture the full complexity and diversity of autistic experiences in the workplace.

These limitations suggest caution in generalizing the findings and highlight areas for future research, such as longitudinal studies tracking actual hiring behaviors, industry-specific analyses, and more nuanced explorations of autism understanding in workplace contexts.

References

Primary reference

Day, M., Wood, C., Corker, E., & Freeth, M. (2024). Understanding the barriers to hiring autistic people as perceived by employers in the United Kingdom. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241301493

Other references

Annabi, H., & Locke, J. (2019). A theoretical framework for investigating the context for creating employment success in information technology for individuals with autism. Journal of Management & Organization, 25(4), 499–515. doi:10.1017/jmo.2018.79

Davies, J., Heasman, B., Livesey, A., Walker, A., Pellicano, E., & Remington, A. (2023). Access to employment: A comparison of autistic, neurodivergent and neurotypical adults’ experiences of hiring processes in the United Kingdom. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221145377

GOV.UK. (2021). National strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026. www.gov.uk

McMahon, C. M., Stoll, B., & Linthicum, M. (2020). Perceived versus actual autism knowledge in the general population. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 71, 101499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2019.101499

Office for National Statistics. (2022). Outcomes for disabled people in the UK 2021. https://ons.gov.uk

Keep Learning

Socratic questions for a college class to discuss this paper:

1. How might societal attitudes towards autism intersect with the barriers identified in this study? How could broader cultural changes influence employment outcomes for autistic individuals?
2. The study found that younger employers had stronger intentions to hire autistic people. What factors might contribute to this generational difference, and what implications does this have for future workplace inclusion?
3. How might the barriers identified in this study differ for small businesses compared to large corporations? What unique challenges and opportunities might each face in hiring autistic employees?
4. The study revealed a mismatch between perceived and actual knowledge about autism among employers. How might this discrepancy impact workplace interactions and support for autistic employees beyond the hiring process?
5. Given the finding that previous experience hiring autistic people was strongly associated with future intentions to hire, how could policy makers and organizations create more opportunities for these positive initial experiences?
6. How might the barriers to hiring autistic people identified in this UK-based study compare to those in other countries or cultures? What factors might contribute to similarities or differences?
7. The study focused on employer perspectives. How might the perceived barriers differ if we asked autistic job seekers about their experiences? How could integrating both perspectives enhance our understanding of the employment gap?
8. Considering the limitations of self-reported intentions, what alternative research methods could be used to study actual hiring behaviors towards autistic individuals?
9. How might the increasing prevalence of remote work and digital communication impact the barriers and opportunities for autistic employment identified in this study?
10. The study suggests that improving knowledge about autism could increase hiring intentions. However, autism is a highly diverse condition. How can we balance the need for general autism awareness with recognizing individual differences among autistic employees?