Investigating the effectiveness of employer recruitment disclosures and practices in signalling an inclusive environment for autistic jobseekers in Northern Ireland
Ulster University
Research in Human Research Management on autism recruitment practices note that 'the empirical literature in our field has been completely silent on the recruitment of autistic people'(Goldberg and Willham, 2024, p.647) and found that disclosures in the statements had an impact on the participants'willingness to apply to an organisation and provided insights on what autistic people deem are "autistic-friendly" signals and work conditions.
This suggests that signalling theory, which recognises that information asymmetry exists between organisations seeking employees and job seekers, as job seekers have to rely on the limited information provided by the organisation on recruitment to signal what working for the organisation will be like (Capitano et al., 2022). This is of particular importance to marginalised groups as they typically expect to experience discrimination (Lindsay et al., 2021). However, it is not simply what is disclosed in diversity statements or recruitment advertisements.
Job applicants typically research organisations they are applying to, and studies have shown that diversity-mixed messages, with inconsistencies between what organisations say and do. For example, Wilton et al. (2020) found that celebrating neurodiversity and welcoming autistic talent on their website, yet having traditional recruitment processes based on personality and cultural fit, lead to perceptions of diversity dishonesty which had a negative impact on jobseeker engagement.
To date no study has explored company recruitment communication and processes to determine whether they are a barrier to autistic job-seekers. This study aims to contribute to the literature by examining the recruitment disclosures (including inclusion policies and advertisements) and recruitment processes of a sample of Northern Ireland 's largest employers to determine if they are 'autism-friendly '.
