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The purpose of this paper is to address the "What's next?" question asked by employees with disabilities when they have created a "level playing field," that is, one with job security and equitable opportunities. Some employees answer such questions by engaging in task crafting, which involves creating changes in the scope, number of tasks, or type of job activities performed by employees. For employees with disabilities, successful task crafting may require involvement in a self-controlled strategy to acquire the accommodations they will need for successful task crafting, known as accommodation crafting. Using the survey responses from seventy-two participants with disabilities, a statistically significant correlation (r = .27) between these two crafting constructs was found as hypothesized, along with frequency results. Study findings have implications for employees with disabilities, vocational rehabilitation counselors and managers. Key Words: Job crafting, task crafting, accommodation crafting, employees with disabilities Words: 7,500, Accommodation Crafting and Task Crafting by Employees with Disabilities: An Exploratory Pilot Study Fancy yourself as a mentor for an employee with a disability named Kathy. Kathy approaches you one [...]

The Americans with Disability Act sets forth the conditions under which management is compelled to respond to informal and formal requests for accommodations, one of which is that requests must relate to essential job functions. When requests do not relate to essential job functions, employer responsiveness becomes voluntary. The difference between compelled and voluntary management responsiveness to efforts by employees with disabilities to acquire workplace accommodations is import to the decision-making processes of employees with disabilities as is discussed here for the benefit of employees with disabilities, their supervisors, and advocates., The purpose of this paper is to discuss practical considerations stemming from recent research and theory for guiding employees with disabilities in their decision making related to seeking accommodations under [...]

Some students cope with the conflicting demands of work, family, health, and college by engaging in adjustment-seeking behavior, whereby students try to persuade instructors to make the kinds of personalized adjustments needed to avoid the potential consequences of conflicts between academic responsibilities and their other responsibilities. Hypothesized here is that students' adjustment-seeking behaviors are predicated by knowledge of students' political skill and adjustment-seeking self-efficacy. Participants completed a survey measuring adjustment-seeking behavior, adjustment-seeking self-efficacy, and political skill. Multiple regression analysis revealed that students' political skill and adjustment-seeking self-efficacy contributed significantly to the prediction of adjustment-seeking behavior, as hypothesized. Adjustment-seeking behavior was found to be more frequent among participating students with higher levels of political and self-efficacy skills. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

A longitudinal survey of 240 college graduates with hearing loss found most were relatively successfully employed and satisfied with life. Larger proportions of alumni with deafness had earned advanced degrees, secured white-collar jobs, and earned more than those with hearing impairments. Recommendations for improving career decision making are provided. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

The authors explored the relationship between vocational rehabilitation (VR) case outcomes and ten consumer, service, and counselor characteristics to determine whether or not there are significant differences in vocational rehabilitation outcomes between two groups of consumers with hearing loss, specifically non-Latinos (Caucasians) and Latinos who identified their race as White. The participants in this study consisted of 481 Non-Latino (Caucasian) and Latino consumers with hearing loss whose VR cases with the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation were closed either successfully or unsuccessfully during 2002-2004. The study results showed that five consumer variables (gender, education, age, hearing loss, and support) and one VR service (job placement) variable were found to be significantly associated with a successful VR outcome. However, consumer ethnicity and all three counselor characteristics (ethnicity, training, and communication skills) were not. Implications for VR counseling and research are discussed., Since there is very little focus on rehabilitation outcomes in the Hispanic/Latino population (de Silva Cardoso, et al., 2007), this study was undertaken to determine whether or not there are [...]

Job satisfaction was studied for 322 deaf and hard-of-hearing alumni of 47 special college programs. Relative to participants with higher levels of job satisfaction, participants with lower levels of job satisfaction were somewhat more likely to have experienced unemployment periods greater than one month, have jobs with lower Socioeconomic Index (SKI) scores, and have experienced perceived on-the job limitations. Participants who were less satisfied were very likely to indicate that they were searching for another job. Job satisfaction accounted for 25% of the variance in job search behavior. Implications for service delivery in postsecondary institutions and Vocational Rehabilitation agencies are discussed., This study presents the results of a quantitative study of job satisfaction (i.e., the degree to which an employee feels good or bad about his or her job) for a [...]

The Americans with Disability Act sets forth the conditions under which management is compelled to respond to informal and formal requests for accommodations, one of which is that requests must relate to essential job functions. When requests do not relate to essential job functions, employer responsiveness becomes voluntary. The distinction between compelled and voluntary compliance has important implications for the process by which employees with disabilities pursue accommodations. The rather well-defined process for acquiring an accommodation when the ADA compels managers to respond is reviewed here. Discussion then turns to issues and examples associated with the less familiar process that some employees follow when management responses are voluntary. This less familiar process is discussed in the context of a strategy, known as job crafting, for expanding the boundaries, and thus the essential functions, of a job. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between age and the perceived value of pay (valence) was investigated for a sample of 453 nonunionized female employees at an American apparel plant. Pay valence was determined using a 'pay addressing needs' format, suggested by Lawler (1971). For workers up to age 40, pay valence appeared higher for younger workers, but for workers older than 40 pay valence was unrelated to age. The ability of pay to satisfy specific Maslowian needs decreased with age (except with respect to physiological needs) for workers up to age 40., AGE HAS BEEN CONSIDERED both as an individual difference variable and as a personal characteristic in predictions of employee attitudes and behaviors. For example, models of employee turnover include the [...]

. The present study assessed the extent to which the withdrawal behaviors for two samples of Americans (254 health care workers and 45 ROTC students) could be predicted using self-reported information about withdrawal intention and investment size. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed for each sample, and the results were consistent: For both samples, the main effect of intention (entered first) contributed significantly to the prediction of withdrawal behavior. Neither the main effect of investment (entered second) nor the Intention x Investment interaction effect (entered third) contributed significantly to the prediction of withdrawal behavior for either sample. These findings are inconsistent with prior research, which showed that all three parameters (intention, investment, and their interaction) made significant contributions to the prediction of participation in music-related activities. We propose that die inconsistent findings relate to the degree of personal relevance of the criterion measures.

Job analysts observed and interviewed job incumbents representing 20 diverse occupations and rated each occupation on a wide variety of characteristics to determine the reliability of current job analysis methods and to compare these methods with a new scale. Scales representing broad, abstract job characteristics tended to have higher reliabilities than those representing more concrete characteristics. (TE)

Some students cope with the conflicting demands of work, family, health, and college by engaging in adjustment-seeking behavior, whereby students try to persuade instructors to make the kinds of personalized adjustments needed to avoid the potential consequences of conflicts between academic responsibilities and their other responsibilities. Hypothesized here is that students’ adjustment-seeking behaviors are predicated by knowledge of students’ political skill and adjustment-seeking self-efficacy. Participants completed a survey measuring adjustment-seeking behavior, adjustment-seeking self-efficacy, and political skill. Multiple regression analysis revealed that students’ political skill and adjustment-seeking self-efficacy contributed significantly to the prediction of adjustment-seeking behavior, as hypothesized. Adjustment-seeking behavior was found to be more frequent among participating students with higher levels of political and self-efficacy skills. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, disability issues have become more salient to employers. Yet, very little information is available to document the extent to which employers provide accommodations to workers with a hearing loss or any other disability. The availability of 19 specific types of work accommodations was studied for a sample of 232 employees who are deaf or hard-of-hearing with varying levels of postsecondary training. Availability levels ranged from a low of 13% for computer-assisted note taking to a high of 80% for hearing persons answering the telephone as an accommodation. Availability rates were found to fluctuate in relation to attributes of both employees (need, education level, and type of occupation) and employers (size and type of employer). Results in general are consistent with hypotheses derived from theory and prior research. Research and practical implications are discussed., Since passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA; Public Law 101-336), growing interest has been placed upon the extent to which employers provide accommodations to workers with a [...]

This study was designed to explore whether employee age influences the relation between perceived work alternatives and job satisfaction. Moderated regression analyses were conducted using the survey responses of 226 employees between the ages of 24 and 50 who worked for a mental health institution. The analyses revealed that a Perceived Work Alternatives X Employee Age interaction significantly predicted job satisfaction. Neither organizational tenure nor employee educational level accounted for job-satisfaction variance beyond that accounted for by perceived work alternatives alone, nor did they interact with perceived work alternatives to predict job satisfaction. These findings indicate that employee age is associated with the relation between perceived alternatives and job satisfaction. They also provide some insight into which of a number of age-related effects may be most pertinent to this relation. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Job analysts who collect occupational information for the Dictionary of Occupational Titles observed and interviewed job incumbents representing 20 diverse occupations and rated each occupation on a wide variety of characteristics following standard United States Employment Services procedures. On the basis of four ratings, the large majority of 70 scales were found to have coefficient alpha (or KR-20) reliabilities in excess of .80, and 25 scales had reliabilities ranging from .90 to .98; a variance ratio procedure yielded largely consistent estimates. Reliabilities were similar to those found in an earlier study using different procedures and were similar to those from a well-developed, occupationally anchored scale of 'Job Complexity,' developed for this study. Scales representing broad, abstract job characteristics tended to have higher reliabilities than scales representing more concrete job characteristics. (Reproduced by permission of the publisher.)

The highly popular Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) publishes some of the most comprehensive information available on critical rehabilitation activities. However, some of the occupational information is not reliable due to the complex and constantly changing labor market. A strategy is presented to identify and measure the confidence level of DOT information., The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT, 1977) has long provided rehabilitation professionals with the best available information of its kind to use in critical rehabilitation activities. Uniquely comprehensive and easy to access, this widely used resource does not offer perfectly reliable occupational information. The increased need for occupational information created by changes in the labor market makes the DOT too valuable a resource to ignore or underutilize because of concerns about reliability. This paper presents a strategy designed to maximize user confidence in utilizing DOT information., Complex changes in the labor market continue to transform the way employment is conducted in a pervasive ripple effect that began in urban centers of business and moved relentlessly toward [...]