A Call to Action: Advancing the Conversation Around Neurodi…

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A Call to Action: Advancing the Conversation Around Neurodivergent Education-Employment Transitions autism spectrum disorder (ASD) Summary : Neurodiversity is often excluded from DEIB frameworks, despite the growing recognition of its benefits in ed- ucation and corporate sectors. The Neurodiversity Engagement Framework aims to bridge this gap by identifying necessary supports for neurodiverse individuals and their allies, helping them navigate higher education and industry. It highlights chal- lenges in current practices and policies, offering guidance for creating more supportive environments, and concludes with a roadmap for future research and practices to better support neurodiverse individuals in academic and corporate settings.

Research suggests that 90% of companies claim to prioritize diversity (Casey, 2020), yet diversity and inclusion efforts are ineffective at changing behaviors or creating discrimination-free, inclusive workplaces (Anwar, 2022). Further exacerbating this issue is that Disabled, and therefore neurodiverse, individuals rarely benefit from investment in DEIB efforts. Research revealed that only 4% of DEIB efforts consider or include disability as a critical consideration in related programming (Casey, 2020).

Higher education as a field, compared to corporate America, has a longer history of working with Disabled individuals dating back to the early 1960s (Madaus, 2011). The investment in supporting Disabled individuals in post-secondary education was further solidified with the passing of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the subsequent passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. According to research conducted by the ADA National Network (Gould,

DR. VICKI L BAKER, PhD: Vicki L. Baker is the E. Maynard Aris Endowed Professor in Economics and Management, associate dean of strategic partnerships and innovation, and chair of the economics and manage- ment department at Albion College. She is also a co-founder of Lead Mentor Develop, an academic career and professional development consulting group that helps businesses, nonprofits and higher education institutions in the areas of mentoring, faculty development and leadership. DR. KEVIN L DANLEY, PhD: Dr. Kevin L. Danley is the Co-Founder and CEO of Guided Growth Life Coaching and a former college professor recognized as Outstanding Faculty of the Year in 2023. With over 25 years of experience in leadership, mentoring, coaching, teaching, and professional development, he has worked in diverse environments, including the military and higher education. Dr. Danley is also an independent researcher and a contributor to HuffPost. As a neurodivergent individual, he brings a unique perspective to his work, fostering growth and development across various cultures. DR. DANNIE LYNN FOUNTAIN, DBA: Dannie Lynn Fountain is a multipassionate human - by day, she’s a Disability Accommodations Program Manager at Google and by night she supports clients and brands with HR-focused DEIA strategies. Her focus is on expanding disability inclusion within DEIA efforts by equipping people with the tools to craft change within their own situations, regardless of their seniority at work or authority within their team. Dannie Lynn has been interviewed or quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Bustle, Bloomberg, Business Insider, and more.

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Parker Harris, & Mullin, 2019), it is estimated that 19% of undergraduate students and 12% of graduate students in the United States have disabilities. In the UK, it is estimated that 1 in 7 people is neurodiverse and that student numbers are at an all-time high (Farrant, Owen, Hunkins-Beckford, & Jacksa, 2022). Global figures suggest nearly one billion individuals live with a disability, making one in six global citizens part of the Disabled community (World Health Organization, 2023). The data are clear -- a large portion of the global population identifies as Disabled, and they are underserved and under-supported (Shaewitz and Crandall, 2020; The World Bank, 2023). Informed by our experiences as neurodiverse persons (1st and 3rd authors) and faculty members (2nd and 3rd authors) who support neurodiverse students in our classrooms, we believe higher education and industry professionals have the desire to support neurodiverse individuals given the recognition of the value add they bring to their immediate environments (Austin & Pisano, 2017). Yet, an area that has received relatively little research or practice attention is the neurodivergent education- employment transition, a critical, albeit overwhelming experience neurodiverse individuals must navigate as they leave the academy and transition into industry. RELEVANT LITERATURE There are various definitions of neurodiversity and not a universal agreement on the definition. To contextualize the discussion, this article uses the definition from Dwyer (2022), stating that neurodiversity refers to the many different ways a person’s brain processes information. Disability as well has numerous definitions and models (disability is a medical diagnosis, a legal definition, a social model, and a cultural identity, sometimes all at once). This article uses the ADA definition, stating that “a person with a disability is defined as any person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity.” It is also important to be aware that while there is some overlap between neurodiversity and disability, they do not overlap 100%. Each neurodiverse individual makes their own determination of whether their condition(s) are disabling and thus a disability. Aitken and Fletcher-Watson (2022) initially stated,“ Successful, inclusive education needs to cater to the naturally occurring variability that is an inevitable part of humanity” (para. 12). Although higher education, as a field, recognizes supporting difference is one key to cultivating a culture of belonging (Taff and Clifton, 2022), there is still much to be done to support neurodiverse students’ transition into the academy and beyond as they enter the world of work. Notably missing from that literature, however, is scholarship or practice that focuses on equipping neurodiverse students with the tools to navigate environments outside of higher education as they engage in the job search process and post-graduation employment experiences (a notable exception is the work being done via

the College Autism Network as outlined in Blake, 2023). This recognition is foundational to and informed the development of the Neurodiversity Engagement Framework. As students graduate from post-secondary institutions, their expectations and needs do not simply disappear. And yet, the resources that were once available are likely no more or harder to access with even higher professional stakes on the line. Three key factors impact disability at work: the Disabled community is the largest minority group in the world, more than 70% of disabilities are invisible, and those with disabilities are 50% less likely to get jobs (Rafi, 2021). When this is further contextualized within the absence of disability as a part of DEIB initiatives at work, it is no surprise that Disabled employees desperately seek inclusion - not just as customers but as coworkers too (Casey, 2020). More than a third of Millennial employees have been diagnosed with a disability (a larger number than Boomers or Gen-Xers), and Millennials were the first generation to be nearly fully educated after the Americans with Disabilities Act was codified into law (Hewlett, 2017). Similarly, Gen Z has even higher rates of disability diagnosis and has entered the workforce expecting similar supports as they experienced while in higher education environments (Dugan, 2023). As these two generations combine to make up the majority of workforce populations, expectations for supports around neurodivergence at work will only continue to grow, with 99% of Gen Z valuing neurodiversity in the workforce (Tallo, 2023). Silver, Nittrouer, and Hebl (2023) noted that, “the first drawback for the business case for neurodiversity is that it may not be supported,” citing organizational factors that inhibit fully leveraging diverse voices and that conflicting research on the positives and drawbacks of neurodiversity make the case hard to argue for. However, Silver and colleagues also later acknowledged that “characterizing neurodiverse individuals as extremely capable could unintentionally marginalize and commodify them,” furthering the evidence for a deeper need for neurodiverse voices to be centered when they are the topic of conversation. As such, corporate leadership must redefine organizational vision and goals to incorporate neuroinclusive strategies (Roberson et al., 2021). These industry-focused impacts are heavily impacted by an organization’s leadership engaging with these topics and advancing various components of neuroinclusion. Success of these and many other DEIB initiatives within an organization is largely predicated on executive sponsorship (Dixon and Lee, 2023).

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TWO MINI CASE-STUDIES

performance lately. Her team has been tasked with onboarding two new clients, plus successfully managing existing clients in their portfolio. Alice is struggling to keep up with her work, which is impacting others on her team. She is noticing an inability to focus and keep her anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed in check. She hesitates to verbalize her issues with her team members and supervisor due to impression management issues; this reminds her of her experiences as a university student, recognizing that her inability to deliver was likely perceived as her being lazy or that she did not care, which was quite the opposite. She struggled to verbalize her issues to her professors and is feeling similarly with work colleagues. An increasingly common experience is that of the late diagnosed individual, defined as diagnosed in adulthood, going through the experience of diagnosis, crisis of identity, acceptance, and finally, decision to disclose at school or work. In this situation, the individual has already been working with colleagues under the assumption that they are neurotypical and not in need of, or would benefit from, seeking support or related accommodations. What we describe here characterizes Alice’s story recognizing that she was in need of support during her years at University and now at work, but was unaware. Alice’s experience brings to light that similar individuals could experience dramatically improved outcomes and reduced level a reduced level of masking through disclosure, however, the decision to disclose has the potential to change their relationships with colleagues, others’perception of their abilities, and open them up to perceived or real discrimination. Upon disclosure, their employer will likely engage in the interactive discussion process to identify supportive accommodations, but the individual will be left to deal with the relational fallout largely on their own. NEURODIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK - PRESENT THE FRAMEWORK AND HOW TO USE IT If employers are uncertain whether their existing policies and HR expertise is sufficient to be supportive of neurodiverse employees, they can engage with an evaluative model to review and tweak their efforts as appropriate. Our aim in developing the Neurodiversity Engagement Framework is to help organizational and institutional leaders, and their work contexts, transition from an initial awareness of neurodivergence to a fully supportive model within the working environment that does not rely wholly on the Disabled individual moving the process forward. A company or institution’s initial awareness or engagement with the framework is the inflection point when there is a decision to create or reevaluate neurodiverse support systems within the organization. The framework can be used to identify gaps in existing efforts as well as review new and existing policies, practices, and infrastructures to ensure accommodations are accessible and part of organizational DEIB considerations. The Neurodiversity Engagement Framework starts with an

STEVE’S STORY With the increase in student disability offices and learner accommodations within higher education, an emerging experience that will reach a critical inflection point in the next four years is the adolescent who is diagnosed neurodiverse, receives support and corresponding accommodations in the higher education environment, but faces a very different experience beyond the academy. That experience may mean they receive no support or related accommodations in industry, or they have to reapply/reprove the need for support and corresponding accommodations in the corporate context. Steve exemplifies this experience. He has been able to thrive in an academic setting with accommodations such as noise- canceling earbuds, sensory equipment, flexible scheduling, note-taking supports, limited distractions, assistive technology, and/or checks for understanding. These are all accommodations that are low to no cost to implement and enabled Steve to be academically successful and were also supported by his professors and academic advisor. Steve worked closely with faculty and staff to ensure he was communicating his needs appropriately; he had the consistent advocacy of the accommodations office in reinforcing needed support. Steve was thrilled when he earned his first position out of college in a field that aligned with his academic major. While Steve thought he could manage without accommodations, he quickly realized that he was a stronger contributor with the support and accommodations he was afforded at college. After reviewing the company website and related human resource pages, Steve was unable to locate the information he needed, such as where and how to access accommodations and work support. Steve was left with no other choice but to self-disclose to his supervisor in order to determine the necessary process to follow. While the cost of the accommodations that Steve needed to be successful was $0 or near-$0 to implement, Steve (and the employer) needed the accommodations process to start over, revealing that some of the needed accommodations were not available despite the limited financial resources needed to provide Steve with what would enable his success and full contribution. As a result, Steve, the student-now-employee, is at a disadvantage in the short and near term until the employer is able to implement some or all of the accommodations to bring Steve back to parity with his prior experiences. ALICE’S STORY Alice graduated from university seven years ago, and is in the early stages of her professional career. She enjoys her position and the company she works for; her supervisor is very effective in team-building and bringing out the best in others. It is this reason that Alice is feeling particularly frustrated at her work

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Figure 1. Neurodiversity Engagement Framework.

agreement that an understanding of neurodiversity is the key entry point to any supportive people strategy. This agreement is followed by an initial review to determine what the deficits are in organizational knowledge and policymaking around neurodiversity. It then divides the acquisition of knowledge into two parts - interactive engagement with outside experts and a structured process for internal engagement. Interactive Engagement with Outside Experts . This component sets the expectation that Disabled employees/students are not responsible for educating their employers and universities on the history and context of neurodiversity or the variety of supports available to individuals. This is reinforced by encouraging employers and universities to engage outside experts and to have designated human resource (HR) or legal personnel responsible for maintaining currency on neurodiversity best practices and understanding the global implications of neurodiversity supports. This would also result in employers and universities normalizing on a universal policy

across all constituents as supported by law, ensuring that all employees or students receive the “most comprehensive” supports afforded to any one employee or student. Engaging with outside experts is a critical component of this model, as frequently the labor for advancing marginalized causes and initiatives in the workplace is done “for free” by members of the marginalized community. Often, employee resource group (ERG) members will be tapped to be a part of a “diversity taskforce” on a particular subject and will engage in efforts to improve their community’s experience in the workplace, working in surplus of their existing 45-hour weeks to achieve these efforts. By engaging with outside experts, the organization is forced to either make financial commitments to resources for the initiative in question or to ask outside experts for free labor (who frequently decline). This financial commitment results in better outcomes for marginalized employees within the workplace (through reduced burnout and demanded emotional labor to “create organizational understanding”) and better outcomes for the organization as well, as the organization

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can engage with individuals who understand the neurodiverse community but are also paid to dedicate 100% of their working time on these topics. Structured Process for Internal Engagement. This component formalizes internal processes within the organization or university, ensuring ease of access and reduction of need for self-disclosure. This is reinforced by recommending a consistent and seamless ease of transition from applicant to candidate and eventually employee within the employer space, as well as a process where all employees or students are proactively directed to an accommodations team or process, reducing self-disclosure demands for access. Finally, it sets a standard that all managers, supervisors, or professors are provided foundational knowledge in the mechanisms and processes behind accommodations and how they should or should not impact evaluations and considerations of employee and student performance management. Creating a formalized and structured process is a critical component of this model, as it guides toward equitable outcomes. By ensuring all employees go through the same process to seek accommodations, employees are not isolated or denied through arbitrary departmental or managerial whims. Similarly, by centralizing these processes, the budget allocated to financially-backed accommodations can be spent in a more efficient way through pooled resourcing and better access to corporate discounts on various products and tools. Resulting Comprehensive Understanding and Support. These two components then promote a comprehensive understanding and support of neurodiversity in the workplace or higher education environment, finally normalizing on a neurodiversity-forward people strategy for employees and students. Ideally, if the organization considers all factors appropriately and integrates them successfully, the result is a neurodiversity-forward people strategy that is supportive of neurodiverse employees and students and reduces or removes barriers to success. This framework is not intended to be used one time and set aside but instead to be revisited at critical inflection points within the organization’s trajectory to ensure that as the organization grows, the support systems for neurodiverse employees also continue to grow. The continued use of the framework is largely dependent on the incorporation of meaningful metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). This step is crucial for assessing and improving the effectiveness of the framework. Companies and institutions can hold team check-ins and one-on-one meetings to receive feedback from employees and students regarding their thoughts on engagement processes. A dedicated engagement survey tool can also be utilized to gauge the value of the processes developed from the framework. Measurable data is necessary to create insightful action to ensure the Neurodiversity Engagement Framework produces the intended

return on investment (ROI).

CALL TO ACTION As higher education and industry leaders look to invest in strategies and practices to support a sense of belonging and inclusion in their respective organizations, those efforts must include time, space, and place for all community members and their varied identities; support for those identities is paramount to harnessing the collective talent of all team members. Our aim was to shed light on what is known about neurodiversity, as informed by an interdisciplinary lens, and to advance an agenda focused on increased collaboration between higher education and industry to better enable neurodiversity accommodations. Further, via our Neurodiversity Engagement Framework, we provide guidance on how to critically evaluate existing neurodiversity processes and policies, which we argue should be an on-going process. We hope that the implementation of these recommendations, and the use of the Neurodiversity Engagement Framework, will improve higher education and industry inclusion as well as the success of neurodiverse individuals. REFERENCES Aitken, D., and Fletcher-Watson, S. (December 15, 2022) ‘Neurodiversity-affirmative education: Why and how?’ The British Psychological Society. https://www.bps.org.uk/ psychologist/neurodiversity-affirmative-education-why- and-how Anwar, M. (May 5, 2022) ‘The future of diversity and inclusion on corporate America.’ Forbes . https://www.forbes.com/sites/ forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/05/05/the-future-of-diversity- and-inclusion-in-corporate-america/?sh=111c6af07ccf Austin, R. D., and Pisano, G. P. (2017) ‘Neurodiversity as a competitive advantage: Why you should embrace it in your workforce.’ Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/05/ neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-advantage Blake, J. (December 14, 2023) ‘Creating career pathways for neurodiverse students.’ Inside HigherEd. https://www. insidehighered.com/news/diversity/disability/2023/12/14/ creating-career-pathways-neurodiverse-students Casey, C. (2020, March 19) ‘Do your DandI efforts include people with disabilities?’ Harvard Business Review. https://hbr. org/2020/03/do-your-di-efforts-include-people-with- disabilities Dixon, D. L., & Lee, B. D. (2023). ‘The role of sponsorship in developing diverse leadership talent.’ Management in Healthcare, 7(3), pp. 250-260.

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company-that-was-sued-discrimination-and-harassment- lawsuits-2020-2021-1 Su, N. F. (2016). A qualitative study to identify corporate recruiters' competencies in working with individuals with disabilities in the United States. The Pennsylvania State University. Taff, S. D., and Clifton, M. (2022)‘Inclusion and Belonging in Higher Education: A Scoping Study of Contexts, Barriers, and Facilitators.’ Higher Education Studies, 12(3), pp. 122-133. Tallo. (2023) ‘What Companies Need To Know About Gen Z’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Expectations.’ https://tallo. com/blog/gen-z-workplace-diversity-equity-inclusion/

Dugan, D. (2023) ‘ Neurodiversity in Higher Education.’ (Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo).

Dwyer, P., Mineo, E., Mifsud, K., Lindholm, C., Gurba, A., & Waisman, T. C. (2023) ‘Building neurodiversity-inclusive postsecondary campuses: recommendations for leaders in higher education.’ Autism in Adulthood, 5(1), pp. 1-14. Gould, R., Parker Harris, S., and Mullin, C. (2019) ‘Higher education and the ADA: An ADA knowledge translation center research brief.’ ADA Network. https://adata.org/research_brief/ higher-education-and-ada Hewlett, S. A. (2017, November 17) ‘Millennials with Disabilities: A Large, Invisible Talent Cohort with Innovative Potential’ Inc. Magazine. https://www.inc.com/sylvia-ann-hewlett/ millennials-with-disabilities-a-large-invisible-talent-cohort- with-innovative-potential.html Madaus, J. W. (2011) ‘The history of disability services in higher education.’ New Directions for Higher Education, 154(1), pp. 5-15. Praslova, L. N., Carucci, R., and Stokes, C. (2022) ‘How bullying manifests at work—and how to stop it.’ Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/11/how-bullying-manifests-at- work-and-how-to-stop-it Rafi,T.(2021,August9)‘ Technology promotes inclusion for the world’s largest minority group: People with disabilities.’ LSE Business Review. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2021/08/09/ technology-promotes-inclusion-for-the-worlds-largest- minority-group-people-with-disabilities/ Roberson, Q., Quigley, N.R., Vickers, K. and Bruck, I. (2021) ‘Reconceptualizing leadership from a neurodiverse perspective.’ Group & Organization Management, 46(2), pp. 399-423. Shaewitz, D., and Crandall, J. R. (October 19, 2020) ‘Higher education’s challenge: Disability inclusion on campus.’ Higher Education Today – a Blog by the American Council on Education. https://www.higheredtoday.org/2020/10/19/ higher-educations-challenge-disability-inclusion-campus/ Sonnemaker, T. (December 31, 2020) ‘2020 brought a wave of discrimination and harassment allegations against major companies like Amazon, McDonald's, and Pinterest. These are some of the year's high-profile legal battles.’ Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/every-

The World Bank (2023) ‘Disability inclusion.’ The World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability

World Health Organization (2023) ‘10 Facts on Disability.’ World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/ facts-in-pictures/detail/disabilities#

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