Lauren Lindstrom

Transition to Employment: Role of the Family in Career Development

This study investigated the role of the family in career development and postschool employment outcomes for young adults with learning disabilities. Using a multiple-case study design, the authors examined a set of family structural and process variables. Fifty-nine in-depth interviews were conducted with young adults, parents, and school staff. Family structure was not directly linked to employment outcomes, but family socioeconomic status was related to initial career decision making and vocational identity development. Family process variables, including family relationships, involvement, support and advocacy, career aspirations, and intentional career-related activities worked in combination to form 3 patterns of family interaction labeled (a) advocates, (b) protectors, and (c) removed. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Waging a Living: Career Development and Long-Term Employment Outcomes for Young Adults with Disabilities:

Youth with disabilities face many barriers in making the transition from high school to stable long-term employment. Researchers used case study methodology to examine the career development process and postschool employment outcomes for a sample of individuals with disabilities who were working in living wage occupations 7 to 10 years after exiting high school. Key influences on initial post-high school placement included (a) participation in work experience, (b) transition services and supports, and (c) family support and expectations. Ongoing career advancement was supported by a combination of factors including (a) participation in postsecondary education or training; (b) steady work experiences; and (c) a set of personal attributes, including self-efficacy and persistence. These themes were present across all participants, but specific experiences and outcomes varied by gender.

Phases of Career Development: Case Studies of Young Women with Learning Disabilities

This study investigates the career development process for young women with learning disabilities. Case study methodology was utilized to understand the key elements influencing career choices for young women with learning disabilities who had graduated from high school and entered the workforce. Case study findings revealed three distinct phases of career development that were labeled (a) unsettled, (b) exploratory, and (c) focused. Phases of career development varied along two dimensions—stability of employment and clarity of career goals. Key elements that seemed to influence the phases of career development included individual motivation and personal determination, family support and advocacy, opportunities for career exploration, on-the-job or postsecondary vocational training, and supportive work environments.

From Marginalized to Maximized Opportunities for Diverse Youths With Disabilities A Position Paper of the Division on Career Development and Transition

Current secondary education and transition practices have created differential education and employment outcomes by gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and disability classifications. These differential outcomes result in economic and social marginalization of far too many students with disabilities. Transition education practices need to respond to these differential outcomes and provide targeted, systematic, and long-term opportunities for all students to attain individually and family-determined postschool goals. This position paper recommends an ecological framework for considering the multiple systems that influence transition education and postschool outcomes for diverse youths with disabilities. The authors argue for educators, researchers, and policy makers to attend to social, political, economic, educational, and cultural contexts in developing effective interventions and improving postschool outcomes.

Sustaining Secondary Transition Programs in Local Schools

This article reports on factors that influence the sustainability of secondary transition innovations in local schools. We used a two-stage research process, which combined broad survey methods and an embedded case study design, to investigate the sustainability of a specific school-to-community transition model for youth with disabilities. We found that sustainability of comprehensive secondary transition innovations is increased when local programs (a) have the support of at least one key administrator, (b) produce positive student outcomes that are valued by school and community stakeholders, and (c) create a clear and unique role for their services that meets identified needs within the district. Program staff and administrators can increase the likelihood of these events occurring and of local programs being sustained. Implications for developing secondary transition innovations to support greater integration and sustainability in local schools are discussed.

Expanding Career Options for Young Women with Learning Disabilities

Young women with disabilities often achieve poor post-school employment outcomes and experience limited career opportunities. Case study methods were utilized to examine the major barriers and facilitators to career choice for young women with learning disabilities who graduated from high school and entered the workforce. Key variables that influenced career choice included (a) gender roles, (b) disability, (c) family and childhood experiences, (d) early work experiences, and (e) career exploration and counseling. Participants who had a solid foundation of employment experiences coupled with opportunities to explore and refine career goals were more likely to enter post-school employment related to their interests and goals.

Gender Gaps: Career Development for Young Women With Disabilities

Young women with disabilities face multiple barriers in making the transition from high school to meaningful careers. This study used focus groups and individual interviews with high school girls with disabilities, college women with disabilities, high school special education teachers, school administrators and employers to examine career development and transition needs for young women with disabilities. Barriers and supports were identified in four major categories: a) individual/interpersonal skills, b) career options, c) school system issues, and d) disability needs. Recommendations for practice are discussed.

Mobilizing Local Communities to Improve Transition Services.

has been recognized and discussed by special educators for many years (Benz & Halpern, 1987; Halpern, 1985; Heal, Copher, & Rusch, 1990; Will, 1984). The establishment of school-family-community partnerships as a strategy for improving school programs and community resources is an essential component of efforts to improve the school-to-work transition process for the general population of students and school leavers (U.S. Department of Education, 1993), including those who are at-risk of school and community failure (Liontos, 1992). Mobilizing community resources through partnership building strategies is likewise the focus of many of the State Transition Systems Change Projects that

The role of gender in the long-term employment outcomes of young adults with disabilities

The purpose of the current study was to examine wage differentials based on gender over a six year post-school period and potential moderators of differential outcomes based on gender. The study included data on 521 participants of a statewide school to work program who had wage data within the state employment database. Results based on mixed effects models indicated that males with disabilities achieved significantly higher starting wages than females and this wage gap remained consistent across the study period. Moderators by gender indicated that graduating high school with a diploma and successful closure from Vocational Rehabilitation were significantly related to higher initial wages for males with disabilities but not females. Results are discussed in the context of related findings suggesting that females do not obtain the same returns as males with disabilities from common benchmarks of success.

Navigating the early career years: Barriers and strategies for young adults with disabilities

BACKGROUND: Young adults with disabilities in their early career years face limited access to high wage/high skill jobs, barriers in the workplace, and inadequate opportunities for career retention and advancement. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this literature review was to examine the process of career development for young adults with disabilities entering the workforce and document strategies for vocational rehabilitation counselors to facilitate career advancement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A literature search was conducted using the online databases Academic Search Premier, ERIC, and PsychInfo. Key words for the search included the terms: disabilities, emerging adulthood, young adults, career advancement, vocational development, and early career. Articles included in this review met the following criteria: (a) published in peer reviewed journals in or after the year 2000, (b) findings addressed either processes, barriers, or strategies for emerging adults with disabilities entering the workforce. RESULTS: Major barriers to career advancement include: a) lack of work experience and restricted aspirations, b) sporadic patterns of early employment, c) limited access to postsecondary education and training, and d) discrimination and prejudice in the workforce. Strategies to enhance early career development included: a) developing individual attributes and skills, b) broadening the range of careers explored, c) creating initial work experience opportunities, d) obtaining postsecondary education/training, e) providing supports to facilitate advancement on the job, and f) advocating for changes in the workplace. CONCLUSIONS: Using an ecological framework to impact individual skills, create training opportunities, and enhance work place environments, rehabilitation counselors can help young adults with disabilities gain equal access to career options and ultimately achieve economic independence and stability.