Introduction
In the recent past, several studies have found that there is underrepresentation of women, people of color, and physically challenged people in various fields(Barr, Chelsea andPae, 2013). Approximately 56 million Americans have some form of disability – whether communicative, mental, or physical (Baynton, 2013). Under-representation of physically challenged individuals is a major challenge in both developed and developing nations. In the current world, most jobs are taken by able bodied individuals because people tend to believe that they are best suited for such positions. Job opportunities have disappeared for people with physical challenges in most regions. Moreover, people with disability are not well utilized in both developed and developing nations because they are rarely given a chance to pursue their career especially in human resource management (AODA, 2017). Since this is a problem experienced in different regions worldwide, it is important to address it and find solutions to increase diversity and to eliminate the subsequent impacts of discrimination in human resource management positions.
Examination of Underrepresentation of Physically Challenged Individuals in Human Resource Management Positions
According to Roulstone and Williams (2014), efforts have been made to ensure that there is progress in solving issues facing other minority groups. Some of the areas that have experienced significant progress in the past few years include gender and race. However, physically challenged people are underrepresented in most workplaces. This problem is mainly experienced in managerial positions where it is rare to find a physically challenged person holding a managerial position. Anastasiou and Siassiakos (2014) also note that the number of this minority group is increasing in the current population meaning that it is extremely important to include them in community activities and to hold senior positions in the workplace. People with different disabilities should be given a voice and equal access to job opportunities.
Inadequate representation of the physically challenged is as a result of various factors depending on locality, culture, and policies. According to the World Health Organization (2011), one of the major factors is negative social perception and stigmatization concerning the abilities of physically challenged people. Physical challenges may involve inability to walk properly, talk, ear, or see among others. Due to such reasons, people also think that physical inability may affect the thinking capacity of the physically challenged. Other people also do not entrust this group with responsibilities because they tend to believe that they are incapable of handling problems affecting the community (WHO, 2011). Therefore, physically challenged people are looked down upon by other community members, leading to low self-esteem, which makes them have low confidence about their ability and position in the society.
Data collected by Pew Research Center showed that 22% of Americans live with some form of disability (Igielnik, 2017). Disability in this case refers to health challenges or physical inability to fully participate in housework, school, or work among other activities. Among those individuals with disabilities, 51% were reported to have difficulty climbing stairs or walking normally. Additionally, 31% of the individuals were also reported to encounter difficulty in making decisions, remembering, or concentrating (Igielnik, 2017). An additional 19% of the people were also reported to have difficulties carrying out daily activities (Igielnik, 2017).These statistics show that physical challenges cannot be overlooked because they have affected a large proportion of the population who also need to be heard and represented fairy.
Most people with disabilities are not considered fit to run such positions due to stigmatization. Wrench (2014) asserts that able bodied individuals rarely give them a chance because they doubt their abilities. As a result, people with disabilities have low self esteem and which hinders them from having confidence to either apply for the positions or work effectively. Others have challenges reading, seeing and walking around making it challenging for them to effectively handle such positions (Wyatt-Nichol and Antwi-Boasiako, 2012)
Moreover, this grouphas inadequate resources, which include logistical as well as financial support necessary to pursue education. According to Enns (n.d.), most governments do not allocate enough funds for such individuals. Embezzlement of funds may also significantly affect the amount of money that finally reaches them. Further, the minority group does not have enough facilities such as well-equipped offices and pathways in buildings that allow them to access offices easily. Failure to access different facilities and people in buildings limits their progress. Additionally, most infrastructure and transport means is not specially designed to fit physically challenged individuals.
In addition, most physically challenged individuals have a poor educational background. Ostroff (2011) notes that physical limitations such as built environment do not allow them to move easily and to interact with others easily, which makes them feel left out. The education system in most countries does not favour this minority group due to various factorssuch as; limited access to reference materials, few specially trained tutors, and availability of facilities that allow them to move around comfortably in lecture rooms, rest rooms, and laboratories (Schur, Kruse andBlanck2013). Such people do not get adequate skills and knowledge that enables them to interact and work with others effectively. Conversely, most of them do not attain academic qualifications that may allow them to apply for managerial positions.
Moreover, it is quite challenging for individuals with disabilities to get the motivation to apply for human resource management positions because there are few physically challenged leaders. Barnes (2011) posits that unavailability of visible leaders in the community makes them to lose hope in running for various job positions. They tend to believe that the existence of few people representing them in various managerial positions is a sign that the general public does not prefer being led by them. They tend to believe that they are not meant to be leaders thus they do not seek such employment positions.
Finally, most policies in different countries do not adequately empower the physically challenged people. This minority group is left out to fight for positions just like other individuals. Making them use normal means to seek senior positions in workplace is challenging because such people face a lot of limitations such as insufficient funding and mobility difficulty due to the design of building and transportation means (Goodley, 2016). Therefore, those who are already in the human resource management positions are not able to effectively play their roles.
Reasons why the Underrepresentation of Physically Challenged in HRM Positions is an Issue of Concern
As seen from the above discussion, physical challenges affect a significant portion of the current total population. Therefore, it is important to understand the issues that mentally and physically challenged people face. One of the major challenges such people face is discrimination. Booth, Leigh andVarganova (2012) state that discrimination against physically challenged individuals has both short term (such as, temper and low-esteem) and long term. Notably, people with disabilities face discrimination in different environmental settings, which include job market and work environment among others. Discrimination against such people causes both physical and psychological harm.
Due to discrimination in different environments, physically challenged people are not able to take part in most community activities that may be beneficial to them (Sherry, 2016). Additionally, they are not able to improve their living standards due to limited access to resources. Most of them lack knowledge and skills which makes it difficult for them to take part in activities that generate revenue especially in workplaces. As such, physically challenged individuals are not in a good position to favorably compete with able bodied people for various resources in the society thus they end up feeling left out (Chou, Asnaaniand Hofmann, 2012). The fact that they are underrepresented in most managerial positions shows that this minority group has not well empowered and given adequate opportunities to become leaders.
Due to underrepresentation in most senior job positions, people do not find the need to conduct public campaigns and awareness to inform physically challenged people how they should grab such opportunities. People tend to believe that this minority group is not interested in such positions hence derailing the efforts to advocate for more opportunities. Having physically challenged people in politics who can relate to their challenges can implement changes that can generally improve the lives of such people. Due to underrepresentation, physically challenged people are viewed as burdens to the society. Most people think that such people can only depend on able bodied individuals for a living (MinklerandWallerstein, 2012). Therefore, the minority group is not given priority especially in allocation of funds and making physical conditions possible for them to communicate and move around freely (Shakespeare, 2013). Such conditions do not favour them thus making it difficult for them to pursue careers in human resource management positions.
According to Dovidio, PagottoandHebl, (2011), stigmatization is a major problem that physically challenged people face. Since they feel that other people do not have confidence in their abilities, the physically challenged tend to lose hope in life and fail to apply for jobs. Besides, most of them face challenges getting jobs and trying to fit in the community because most government policies are not specially formulated to favor them. Thus,havinga good number of physically challenged individuals leading others in the workplace is rare.
The most rampant challenge faced by such people is discrimination, which hinders them from being selected to attend various interviews, to access social amenities, applying for jobs and being promoted to senior job positions. Such people also end up being discriminated during delegation of duties and promotions. It is rare to find a disabled individual being promoted from a low position to that of a human resource manager for example (Kittay, 2011).Most people doubt their abilities thus do not consider them fit to lead others in places of work.
Inadequate finances are also allocated to the construction of infrastructure that can favor mobility and communication of physically challenged individuals (Groce et al., 2011).People belonging to this minority group are thus not able to fit well in most learning institutions thus they do not get adequate skills and knowledge that will enable them to qualify for such jobs. Indeed, physically challenged individuals should be well represented in the human resource management careers so to ensure that there is diversity in places of work.
Conclusion
Underrepresentation of physically challenged individuals is a major challenge globally. This group occupies a small proportion of people involved in human resource management positions due to poor government policies, unfavourable education systems, discrimination, stigmatization, inadequate resources, physical limitations, and poorly structured system. Some of the solutions to such challenges include construction of special education facilities, raising awareness and conducting public campaigns, funding their education programs, educating people on how they should view physically challenged people through workshops and seminars, formulating laws and policies that favour them, and construction of infrastructure that allow their mobility and communication.
Recommendations
Several techniques have been suggested by different authors about improving diversity in human resource management. According to Stone (2013), strong emphasis is put on philosophies of management that are committed to making use and appreciating diversity, equal employment opportunity (EEO), and affirmative action (AA). Administrative heritage and leadership influence the form and nature of different careers that are offered to minority groups. To ensure effective diversity management, organisations should cultivate a culture of inclusion of all types of people. The culture will also enhance cohesiveness, participation and support of teamwork (Stone, 2013). The practice will encourage people to work in unity despite their differences. As a result, the physically challenged individuals will feel comfortable to hold different positions in the workplace.
Emphasis on a diversity culture can also be achieved in a company’s human resource management strategy, mission, and organisational vision. To form a sustainable diversity culture, good leadership and significant commitment of resources should be ensured in an organization (Armstrong, 2011). Senior managers should frequently undergo training to ensure that they learn how to include minority groups such as the physically challenged people.
Additionally, organisations can promote a diversity culture through formalizing their human resource diversity policies. This makes it compulsory to follow the outlined guidelines to include people from different backgrounds and with different physical abilities. Organisations should have written documents for controlling the firing and hiring of staff. Organisations with such documents tend to have more women occupying managerial positions (Bratton and Gold, 2012). The written policies should indicate the number of employees required in each position and also specify the number of physically challenged people that should be included in different positions. Doing so will ensure that diversity is not compromised in such organisations. As a result, the physically challenged individuals will feel motivated to work in a place where they feel that their rights are observed and that their concerns are addressed accordingly.
The other important strategy to manage diversity in organisations to ensure that physically challenged people are given equal job opportunities is keeping records. Boxall and Purcell (2011) posit that record keeping helps in measuring diversity to determine the status of employees in an organisation. Organisations should ensure that they practice proper record keeping and pay attention to documented practices as well as policies. The management should ensure that details on ethnic background, physical abilities, age, language skills, gender, and religion are recorded. This will help to identify the underrepresented groups.
Keeping records also helps to determine the type of employees to be assigned different duties and those who should be hired (Armstrong, 2011). For instance, if records show that physically challenged individuals are underrepresented, then a strategy will be laid to hire more of them. Organisations should also measure demographics and identify profiles of their work groups. Other factors to be included are measuring cultural barriers and the organizational dominant culture that hinder effective and full employee participation in carrying out various duties and holding different top management positions.
Critical analysis should be done on human resource diversity practices which include compensation, performance appraisal, selection tools, recruitment, and diversity training among others. Bratton and Gold (2012) asserts that conducting this type of analysis will help organisations to ensure fairness in all their operations thus giving equal opportunities to minority groups such as the physically challenged. The analysis also helps to eradicate resistance and tokenism, and most importantly to remove glass ceilings. Conducting periodic audit helps to identify things that should be done to ensure that diversity is not compromised in an organisation.
Once an organisation comes up with proper record keeping and critical analysis strategies for employee diversity, it is advisable to compare its data to a region or industry that conducts outstanding diversity management. Benchmaking is an effective strategy because it helps to increase or rate the representation of physically challenged individuals, women, and other minority groups in management.
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