A critical exploration of university policy supporting the employment and career development of people with disability in the Australian academy

Abstract

Policymakers are challenged to advance diversity and inclusion throughout the Australian academy. Informing this issue, this study aims to (a) identify proportions of staff in Australian universities that are publicly reported as being represented by persons with disability; (b) identify categories of actions supporting the employment and career development of people with lived experience as reported within Australian university plans and (c) critically examine contemporary policy efforts of Australian universities by exploring the scholarly evidence base for measures with potential to support disability recruitment and advancement in the academy. The study is informed by thematic analysis as applied to 17 action plans retrieved from an internet search and 7 scholarly articles obtained from Scopus, ProQuest Central and ProQuest Social Science databases. This research offers policymakers a preliminary guide containing good practice features that they should consider when designing and developing policy endeavouring to increase the representation and advancement of persons with disability in staff at Australian universities.