Psycho-emotional disablism in the workplace: experiences of 30 Belgian employees with disabilities

Abstract

Focusing on the psychological consequences of working in disabling contexts, this study analyses the (negative) emotions of 30 disabled employees in three ‘diversity-friendly’ workplaces. It builds on three dimensions of psycho-emotional disablism as identified by Reeve (2002) to extend current knowledge of how psychological ‘barriers in here’ work, and are imbricated with socio-cultural ‘barriers out there’, to limit the careers of disabled employees. The findings show how disabled employees were made to feel like inappropriate workers through inaccessible spaces, not granting of adjustments, and the denial of career progression. Their careers were further limited through hurtful comments and (non-)actions of co-workers and supervisors, suggesting that they were ‘faking it’ or by silencing the impairment, staring at the disabled person, or invalidating them as real organizational members. Lastly career success was impeded because of the internalization of negative views of others about their productive worth, leading them to accept the limits assigned to them and reproducing ableism through expressing a desire for being a ‘normal’ employee.