Disabled women are excluded by design - not by choice.

🆕Our new research reveals disabled women face discrimination at every stage of employment.

Read the report below ⬇️

Full report: buff.ly/YzlUsN8
Summary report: buff.ly/1rXx57i
Easy read: buff.ly/q9DpAW2

That’s a wrap on our launch event for #ExcludedByDesign: Research on disabled women’s employment in Scotland.

Thank you to everyone who attended, our excellent panellists, our researchers & the 900+ women across Scotland who shared their experiences.

Closing remarks from Anna who thanked everyone for their interest #ExcludedByDesign

She added ‘the power in solidarity’ to demand action and change was evident today.

Heather Fisken, CEO of Inclusion Scotland, was pleased #ExcludedByDesign was ‘at last’ a report that aligns to the social model of disability, referencing the lack of research like this done by non-DPOs.

She also added: ‘At last a report that looks at intersecting qualities.’

Tressa Burke, CEO of Glasgow Disability Alliance, noted that the #ExcludedByDesign research was ‘shocking but not surprising’ & that the findings of this report correlated with GDA’s own research.

She welcomed how useful it is to have Scottish-specific data on this area.

Joining us online, Carol Wood, chair of @scottishtuc.bsky.social Disabled Workers’ Committee, spoke of the recognising the ‘powerful value of this research’ and that it is a good place to start campaigning for workers’ rights for disabled people.

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Onto our panel session with Tressa Burke, CEO Glasgow Disability Alliance, Heather Fisken, CEO Inclusion Scotland, & Carol Wood, chair of @scottishtuc.bsky.social Disabled Workers’ Committee.

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Trade unions need to:

• build capacity in reps on disability & securing reasonable adjustments
• make achieving accessible workplaces a trade union priority
• enable disabled women workers to take part in trades councils

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Employers need to:

• provide expert training
• ensure recruitment, training & career development are accessible & inclusive
• record disability-related sick leave separately
• implement reasonable adjustments passports
• take a ‘default yes’ approach to flexible working

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UK Government need to:

• reverse planned cuts to Access to Work & address backlog
• reform Access to Work with disabled people's co-design
• implement mandatory disability pay gap actions plans
• strengthen employer accountability on reasonable adjustments

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Scottish Government need to:

• centre disabled women in fair work policy
• improve intersectional data
• address disabled women's poverty to tackle child poverty
• enable better performance of PSED
• set a timeline for scrapping non-residential social care charges

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#ExcludedByDesign also sets out 38 recommendations for policymakers, employers and trade actions.

These were developed with Disabled People's Organisations, trade unions & disabled women

Almost 3/4 (73%) of disabled women reported experiencing physical or mental harm at work, with racially minoritised women being more likely to feel this way, showing the harmful affect of racism​.

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Colleague doubts and judgements were a common theme with 81% of disabled women feeling the need to work harder to prove they were as capable as non-disabled colleagues.

One participant told us: “I have been made to feel a burden and not a team player.”

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Anna adding: ' this speaks to the hierarchy of impairments, with more visible and widely understood conditions/impairments more likely to be accommodated by employers.'

A continuous burden is placed on disabled women to advocate for their own support amid a lack of employer understanding of disability and their legal responsibilities around this.

Neurodivergent women reported least satisfaction that adjustments were put in place immediately.

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Many disabled women fear disclosing an impairment / condition due to potential career impacts and labelling.

One respondent told us: "I was told outright I would have got the job if I hadn't mentioned health issues."

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A quarter (25.6%) of disabled women reported discrimination at the application stage & 27.8% at interview. Racially minoritised women more likely to feel this way.

1/3 of disabled women find the recruitment progress difficult, increases to over 2/3s for neurodivergent women.

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