To educate students & community leaders on innovative approaches to international development and empower awareness, collaboration, conversations, and personal growth.
Leah Wing — University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs
This client-based project is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Administration in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver.
Executive Summary
An employment gap for people with Down Syndrome (DS) exists in Uganda. The purpose of this study is to better understand the barriers to employment for people with DS through interviews and surveys of employers in Uganda. This study focuses on three research questions. First, what prevents employers in Uganda from hiring job seekers with DS? Second, what key factors separate Ugandan employers that have hired people with DS from those who have not? Third, from the employers’ perspective, what factors contribute to long-term employment in Uganda for employees with DS? Results suggest the following factors as barriers to employers hiring candidates with DS: a lack of applicants with DS, high competition for positions, effects of the pandemic on hiring, supervisory discomfort, communication concerns, perception of inefficiency and ineffectiveness, medical issues, lack of education, and stigma.
The difference between those who had hired job seekers with DS versus those who had not appeared in the following variables: views or preparedness for the workforce, perception of the value that is added, likeliness of considering a candidate with a job coach, confidence in personal supervisory skills, reasons motivating hiring candidates with DS, skepticism of capabilities, and the number of applicants. Employers express that the key to long term employment is financial support and ongoing professional development.
Recommendations include facilitating ongoing job application skills training, connecting potential employers with champion colleagues and supervisors, implementing an inclusive supervisory training program, proposing job carving to employers, and advocating for a tax credit amendment.
Challenges of employing people with Down Syndrome
A tremendous employment gap, on average between 40% to 80% higher than for people without disabilities, exists for people with disabilities (Groce, 2004). In Uganda, it is uncommon for those with DS to obtain education and to participate in the typical milestones of their neurotypical peers, including employment (Gelaro et al., 2019). Major cultural stigma of DS, lack of employer understanding of DS, comorbid medical issues, and employer financial barriers are a few of the predicted barriers that contribute to the lack of employment opportunity for Ugandans with DS, although little research exists within this topic specific to Uganda or East Africa (Christianson, 1996; Gelaro et al., 2019; Hartley et al, 2005; Houtenville & Kalargyrou, 2012; Kaye et al., 2011; Nota et al, 2014; Rashid et al., 2017). On an individual level, lack of employment robs each person one of life’s important milestones and the ability to earn a living. This disparity in the workforce means that adults with DS are unable to contribute income to their families who support them or are unable to afford to live independently if they would otherwise be able. Collectively, this demographic will lack the political power that money enables.
Client Background
Global Livingston Institute is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in Denver in 2009. GLI’s mission is to educate students and community leaders on innovative approaches to international development and empower awareness, collaboration, conversations, and personal growth (Global Livingston Institute, n.d.). GLI partners with communities in Uganda and Rwanda, in the realms of job creation, education, community development, culture sharing, public health, and economic development. GLI puts great emphasis on their motto and the sequential process of “Listen. Think. Act.” This capstone project partners primarily with GLI’s Workforce Development department, whose focus is to provide job training and placement to Ugandans in order to alleviate poverty and create sustainable living conditions. GLI partners with Angel’s Center, an NGO focused on improving the quality of lives of people with disabilities and co-coordinated the first two pilots in Uganda focused on job training and placement for Ugandans with DS.
The key question that this study seeks to address is what prevents employers in Uganda from hiring job seekers with DS? A secondary question is what key factors separate Ugandan employers that have hired people with DS from those who have not? The third question is from the employers’ perspective, what factors contribute to long-term employment in Uganda for employees with DS? This study’s data will shed light on the employers’ perceptions of job seekers and employees with DS. Data analysis results will inform future actions that GLI and Angel’s Center can take to alleviate barriers that exist, specifically within the employer side of the placement process, to obtain and maintain employment. This will guide GLI in their planning for the next phase of this pilot project, and ultimately contribute to an increase in Ugandan job seekers with DS entering and remaining in the workforce.
This paper will proceed with a literature review painting a clear timeline of DS research, first globally and then in Uganda. There are significant gaps in the literature regarding this topic, which this project seeks to address. Following the literature review, this paper will present the methodology, results, discussion, limitations, and recommendations.
Misson
Job creation, education, community development, culture sharing, public health, and economic development.
“Listen. Think. Act.”
Workforce Development department:
To provide job training and placement to Ugandans in order to alleviate poverty and create sustainable living conditions
Angel’s Center: improving the quality of lives of people with disabilities.
Co-coordinated first two workforce development pilots in Uganda for Ugandans with Down Syndrome (DS).
Research Questions
1. What prevents employers in Uganda from hiring job seekers with DS?
2. What key factors separate Ugandan employers that have hired people with DS from those who have not?
3. From the employers’ perspective, what factors contribute to long-term employment in Uganda for employees with DS?
