Job demands and job resources from the perspective of hearing-impaired employees in South Africa : exploration, development and validation (original) (raw)
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Exploring the job demands experienced by employees with hearing impairment in South Africa
SA Journal of Human Resource Management
Orientation: South Africa’s employment equity agenda towards persons with disabilities requires more insight to develop polices and standards of practice.Research purpose: This study sought to inductively inquire about job characteristics that employees with hearing impairment (EwHIs) experience as job demands.Motivation for the study: Scholarly research regarding job demands experienced by EwHIs is underrepresented in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and specifically on the African continent. Therefore, this study aimed to address this gap in literature within the South African context.Research approach/design and method: An exploratory, qualitative research approach was used. Social constructivism served as the paradigm. The approach was complemented by a descriptive phenomenological design aimed at deeply understanding the job demands of EwHIs within South Africa Purposive sampling was used to identify 14 respondents. Data were collected by using open-ended deaf-accessibl...
Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 2019
Background: Despite policies and legislation mandating the employment of persons with disabilities, individuals with hearing impairment continue to face barriers and challenges accessing the labour market and have typically experienced higher rates of unemployment or underemployment. In South Africa, the majority of individuals with disabilities remain dependent on social-welfare to meet basic needs and as a result, their potential remains grossly untapped. Misconceptions regarding the capabilities of hearing impaired individuals have resulted in the occupational marginalization of this population. Objective: This study aimed to investigate employers' perceptions and experiences in recruiting and retaining individuals with hearing impairment in KwaZulu-Natal Provinces' private sector. Method: A descriptive survey with quantitative methods of analysis was used to obtain information from employers, human resource personnel or management in various industries who have employed individuals with hearing loss. The Chronbach Alpha suggested that the self-administered questionnaire had good internal consistency (p = 0.858). A total of 30 responses were obtained from the 19 companies who agreed to participate. Results: Approximately 75% of participants indicated either a medium or low level of awareness regarding disability. Legislation such as the Employment Equity Act (EEA, no 55 of 1998) and the Skills Development Act (SDA, no 97 of 1998) were considered the most useful legislature, as indicated by 66.7% of participants. Those who indicated that external services or resources, such as the KZN Blind and Deaf Society and eDeaf were used during recruitment and retention were more likely to report to the benefits of employing hearing impaired individuals, this being statistically significant (p < 0.001). Less than half of the participants reported that reasonable accommodations were provided for their employees, and half indicated that they were willing to provide sign language interpreters. Most participants (70%) suggested that communication difficulties, particularly in meetings, contributed towards poor employment rates amongst individuals with hearing impairment. Communication difficulties were further endorsed by 73.3% of participants as a major challenge when recruiting and hiring persons with hearing impairment. Other concerns related to the safety of employees and attitudes of co-workers. Conclusion: The findings suggest that a lack of familiarity of disability and disability legislature can manifest in reliance on erroneous stereotypes that individuals with disabilities are poor job performers and incapable of working independently. However, with the use of reasonable accommodations which includes sign language interpreters and desensitization workshops, employers were able to successfully integrate hearing impaired employees into the workforce.
The Employment of Deaf Persons: A Zimbabwean Employers Perspective
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2014
The study explored the views of the Zimbabwean employers regarding the employment of deaf persons. The study was motivated by the need to find the cause to the rapid increase of the number of deaf persons looming the streets of Harare. A mixed design methodology was employed. The respondents were ten employers of deaf persons based in Harare. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The results have shown that the majority of employers believe that deaf employees have the same vocational competencies as their as their hearing counterparts. It has also been found that employers are skeptical of employing deaf person for fearing to lose clients. The results also showed that employers of deaf persons do not get training on the communication needs of deaf persons. The study recommended that there is need for the government to give corporate tax rebates to employers of deaf employees. It is also recommended that treasury introduce a fund for the purposes of funding projects of deaf school leavers.
Human Research in Rehabilitation, 2019
The aim of this paper is to determine the opinions of deaf workers on their labor capacity and the opinions of their hearing co-workers about the labor capacities of the deaf. The sample consisted of 247 respondents, of whom 127 were deaf and 120 were hearing workers. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were used in processing the results. Testing was performed by Wilks' Lambda, tested significance in discriminant analysis was done by F test, at the statistical significance of 0.01. It was found that the sub-sample of respondents had a statistically significant difference in views on claims regarding the exploitation of deaf workers by employers, the employment of deaf people in low-paid simple occupations, and the equally successful but insignificant productivity of deaf workers. The statistical differences found indicate that there are differences in the assessment of the labor capacity of deaf workers in the hearing work environment. Qualitative analysis found that hearing ...
2013
Professor Frank Horwitz, for finding time in his very busy schedule to supervise the start of my thesis. Dr Linda Ronnie for agreeing to be my co-supervisor when Professor Horwitz emigrated. Professor Seyi Ladele (Dele) Amosun for being my co-supervisor, for all his encouragement, belief, support, and understanding of my work. My participants for their willingness to share their life stories and experiences so openly. Without their enthusiasm and involvement, this research would not have been possible. William Daniels and Amina Adam of the Research Commons for their technical support, assistance and encouragement. Professor Andre Görgens for his assistance with regard to the structure and content of my thesis. Elise Varga for her very thorough editing and valuable comments. Dr Brian Watermeyer for his friendship, perspective, ongoing support and advice. Tristan Görgens for his input, support and proofreading. The Harry Crossley Foundation, for the doctoral research funding that made this study possible, their belief in my work, and their ongoing support and encouragement. My parents Anne and Derek Coop their support and encouragement, technical advice, tireless babysitting, and endless editing and proofreading. My wonderful husband Vic McKinney for all of his love, enduring support, perspective and endless editing of my final drafts of my thesis. Without his support, this work would not have been possible, and I dedicate this thesis to him and our baby son James.
Workplace Stressors of Deaf and Hearing Workers
Technium Social Sciences Journal
The occurrence of stress in the workplace is frequent and present in all areas of work. Population deaf workers are at some risk when it comes to the impact of stress in the workplace. The research aims is to determine factors that directly cause stress in the working environment deaf and hearing workers. The sample consisted of 30 deaf workers and 33 hearing workers. For the needs of the research, the measuring instrument of the International labor organizations was used (2003). Research results show that isolated stressors factors are more common in a subsample of deaf subjects. Fear of losing a job, fatigue and short deadlines, lack of support from colleagues and managers, constant change of obligations, feeling insecurities, fear of position in the firm, and communication difficulties are isolated causes of stress in deaf workers. Workflow errors are associated with a feeling of fear and insecurity, they appear due to their insufficient information due to communication difficul...
SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 2017
Orientation: South Africa has faced a number of discriminatory practices in the past. Most of these practices are still present today. Although a considerate amount of attention has been given to discrimination based on gender, race and religion, limited emphasis has been placed on discrimination based on disability, specifically within the workplace.Research purpose: The objective of the study was to explore the perceptions of individuals living with a disability with regards to career advancement challenges they face in the South African workplace.Motivation for study: The research literature shows that irrespective of employment equity legislation, employees with disabilities have restricted opportunities to advance in their careers. Research is needed to assist these employees with their career development.Research design, approach and method: A qualitative research design with an exploratory approach was followed. Probability, purposeful and snowballing sampling techniques were...
Barriers to the employability of people with disabilities in the South African public service
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Background: South African public sector efforts to employ people with disabilities (PWDs) in the post-apartheid have been less successful, resulting in a poor transformation record during the past 27 years (1994-2021) due to the failure to integrate PWDs into mainstream employment in government departments.Objective: The objective of this article is to identify and highlight some of the barriers to the employability of PWDs in the South African public service.Method: The research was framed as a case study within the transformative research paradigm. A typical department in the Western Cape provincial government was selected for the study. In-depth interviews were conducted with selected top managers within the Western Cape provincial government. Convenience sampling technique of the purposive sampling method was adopted to select targeted respondents (n = 10). Thematic analysis was employed to condense the data collected into a small number of significant themes. Atlas.ti version 7...
Career construction and support of D/deaf high school learners in the Eastern Cape Province
2021
D/deaf people typically are not employed, or work in menial jobs, although they have been through high1 school in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The researcher has not observed them in professional careers. However, there is no empirical evidence why the D/deaf are excluded from the formal labour market after schooling. Understanding the underlying factors influencing such observations was important. The problem manifested in unemployment in the formal labour sector, but the researcher wanted to understand the root cause of this problem in depth. The aim of the study is to explore and critically analyse the D/deaf high school learners' construction of their careers and the supports available to them in constructing and realising their career aspirations. The international literature reviewed identifies knowledge gaps concerning career construction and supportive imperatives of D/deaf high school learners. The theory of career construction by Savickas (2005) frames th...