Building Employability: An Exploratory Study of the Experiences and Perceptions of Autistic Higher Education Students in Preparing for Graduate Work

Autistic graduates have significantly poorer employment rates than both their disabled and non-disabled peers. Despite this there is little research about the lived experiences of autistic people, particularly those who do not have an associated learning disability, because autism research tends to be from a clinical tradition and therefore a positivist perspective. This exploratory study investigated a small group of autistic higher education students’ perceptions of employability, experiences of employability development and what they felt universities could do to assist them to achieve meaningful employment post-graduation. The study used a mixed methods approach and an initial questionnaire used both qualitative and quantitative questions to establish contextual information and to act as a recruitment tool for the interview phase of the research. In this phase autistic penultimate year students from a Russell Group university in the North of England took part in semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences. Similar interviews were then conducted with neurotypical students matched for gender, age and subject of study to establish which elements of the responses could be considered specific to autistic students. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the qualitative data and six main themes were identified. These looked at the intersection of autistic identity with gender; the adjustments made during study and work; personal identity; future plans; impairment effect related issues and the framework required for support.

The discussion drew the six themes into five analytic categories to establish theoretical frameworks for the concepts covered. These five looked at: impacts of historical treatment on current behaviours; impairment effect related issues; how identity was managed, and disclosure was undertaken; the effects of a ‘hidden’ curriculum and, what would be required to develop a more effective support system. Sociological and psychological theory were used to understand these themes including Bourdieusian concepts of capital and maintenance of the status quo, Social Identity theory, Feminist theory and Social Constructivism. Recommendations for service provision looks at the theoretical models used for framing careers and employability interventions. It is recommended chaos and strength-based approaches are used for career counselling. Recommendations for future research consider the need to foreground the intersectionality of identity.