Recruitment Challenges for Future Autistic Graduates: Strategies & Resources to Support Successful Employment
This article is informed by research undertaken at the University of Central Lancashire that explored the perceptions of students/graduates and employers on recruiting graduates with an autism spectrum condition (ASC) diagnosis. I offer an overview of autism in the UK and its prevalence among university cohorts. I then consider the various challenges and opportunities for this for this group in the graduate labour market and offer a range of resources for individuals, HE professionals and employers to support a neurodiverse workforce.
What is autism?
The 2022 NAS report found that 1 in 100 people in the UK are autistic and that there are at least 700,000 people within the UK have an autism diagnosis, but this is on the rise (Russel, et al., 2021). Researchers at the University of Cambridge argue that the prevalence of autism has now risen to 1 in 57 children have autism and that Chinese and Black students were 38% and 26% more likely to be autistic than white pupils and therefore more likely to experience disadvantage socially. In terms of gender, boys were more than twice as likely to have an autism diagnosis when compared to girls. However, Russel et al (2021) suggest that there is a rise in females getting an autism diagnosis and individuals whom seemingly fit in, often labelled as “high functioning” adults, are also gaining a diagnosis through greater awareness and understanding of autism.
Autism is a cognitive development condition that impacts a person’s ability to interact and engage with others. However, each person who is autistic is unique and presents their autistic traits differently (Shore, 2019). Some people with autism may identify with different terms, such as autism spectrum, autistic, Asperger’s, neurodiverse, neurodivergent. So, it is useful to express to employers what terms they are aware of and ensure future graduates express their needs in terms the employer understands and will make reasonable adjustments for.
In 2016, the NAS launched a campaign on The Autism Employment Gap stating that autistic talent was being overlooked and only 32% of autistic adults were in work and of those, 16% are in full-time employment. The report called on the government to address this issue and double the numbers by 2020. However, in 2022, the ONS published that only 22% of adults with autism are in employment, which is a 10% reduction than 7 years ago. So, it seems like we’re going backwards rather than forwards, though some may argue like Autistica and Goldfarb et al (2022), that the Covid pandemic has affected recruitment and progression towards a more neurodiverse workforce from the impact of poor mental health, wellbeing and inconsistent working conditions and misinformation during this period.
Our Research
Researching perceptions of graduates with autism on recruitment and employer perceptions on recruiting autistic graduates, I gained clarity of the challenges facing neurodiverse graduates in the world of work. Furthermore, I noted that although employers were aware of a range of neurodiverse conditions, the understanding of an autistic spectrum of conditions were not fully understood or supported in workplaces. This was supported by the study data:
90% of employers asked had no employees who had disclosed an autism diagnosis and also had no support provision for future neurodivergent employees.
84% of employers asked had no selection and recruitment measures for possible neurodivergent candidates.
Only 26% of employers who took part in this study were registered as “Disability Confident Employers.” Of those employers, some had no process to support candidates or employees with an autism diagnosis in their organisation.
74% of employers asked had no support available or adjustments in place to support autistic staff. This is a significant number of employers who are not providing support for some staff and future candidates, which is arguably preventing talent from accessing employment due to a lack of support provision and possibly from being recruited.
Challenges in Employment Culture
Our research highlighted a number of challenges that autistic graduates might face as a result of the actions or attitudes of employers, including:
Lip service that may be given from employers to imply they are inclusive, but don’t really do anything to change or improve provision and support for candidates or employees in practice.
Gas lighting: often unintentional but leads to poor mental health.
Awareness but no understanding. When colleagues and managers are aware of terms but not necessarily the impact and ways that autism can impact upon a person, how and why. Understanding a diagnosis means that the individual can feel understood and if you know why, the implication is you can implement measures to support. If you don’t find out why, there won’t be understanding.
No application of adjustments (class or workplace).
The traditional interview is designed for a “typical” person, not for a neurodivergent individual who can often feel overwhelmed by the over stimulation of a new and change of environment, strangers, questions and absolute judgement of performance under unrealistic circumstances of a panel interview.
Challenges for Individual Candidates
When entering the world of work, individuals with autism may experience a number of individual challenges, including:
Strengths of Autistic Employees
Despite these challenges, autistic employees can bring a wealth of knowledge and skills to the workplace that are worth celebrating. These include:
Highlighting these skills and attributes to employers is crucial.
Useful Resources and Strategies
In order to help you support your autistic students’ employability, the following resources may be useful:
Target Jobs gives a general overview of current employers who are actively seeking a more neurodiverse workforce and value and support difference.
Leeds Beckett University: Dr Marc Fabri has a range of published resources to support students, graduates, employers, colleagues, managers and HE professionals: Image Autism
The ACRE project has a useful interactive toolkit for future students and employees who are autistic.
The Participatory Research Collective (PARC) is for early and experienced researchers and autistic activists to share knowledge.
Pro Autism: is a free online employability course designed for university students and graduates seeking and securing employment.
Evenbreak host a variety of free online resources, such as discussing autism and adjustments with employers, legal rights, planning and applying and more.
Employment Autism has a range of resources for support staff, individuals and employers, including conferences to share strategies.
Ambitious about Autism supports young people and adults from diagnosis to education and employment and beyond.
Insightful videos for professionals, students and employers to gain insight into autism and anxiety from Dr Luke Beardon (Sheffield University), including an interview. Addressing the employment gap, Autism Strategies for Group Work.
*This is not an exhaustive list of support provision to utilise with students, graduates’ colleagues or for personal use. Please do check for currency of the information in links mentioned.
The Future of Employment for Neurodiverse Graduates
Understanding takes time. There needs to be an incentive or legislation for more businesses to practically apply adjustments in the workplace and change recruitment methods, to allow for a more diverse workforce that is reflective of the population rather than settling for vague awareness and inaction that allows for potential discreet discrimination. Accountability is required for change of practice and inclusivity, which means employers need to be held accountable for not recruiting a more neurodivergent workforce and start implementing innovative and modern approaches to recruitment, training, and support of their workforce.
Academics and HE professionals need to work with students and employers to increase understanding, prepare students for future recruitment and selection assessments and encourage employers to become more proactive in their selection, recruitment, and support measures to maintain atypical talent and reduce the autistic employment gap.
