Skip to main content

REVIEW article

Front. Rehabil. Sci.
Sec. Disability, Rehabilitation, and Inclusion
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fresc.2024.1383984

Attitudes of employers towards people with visual impairment: A scoping review

Provisionally accepted
Claire L. Castle Claire L. Castle 1,2*
  • 1 BRAVO VICTOR, London, United Kingdom
  • 2 School of Music, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds, Leeds, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This scoping review explored literature relating to employer attitudes towards employees and candidates with visual impairment (VI). Systematic searches identified 17 relevant articles published since 2018. Thematic synthesis highlighted findings relating to several themes: explicit and implicit attitudes of employers; employer concerns, including those relating to employee performance, and the experiences of both customers and colleagues; and factors which might impact on employer attitudes, such as gender and prior experience of having hired someone with VI. Findings indicate a tendency for employers to possess negative or, at best, neutral attitudes towards people with VI, and the central role that improved knowledge of VI and the capabilities of people with VI may play in generating positive employer attitudes. The review highlights the need for further exploration of this topic, particularly given the limited geographical spread of recent research, and a lack of consideration of the shared experience of employer and employee.

    Keywords: Visual impairment (VI), Visual impairment & blindness, Employment, Equitable access, Disability

    Received: 08 Feb 2024; Accepted: 28 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Castle. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Claire L. Castle, BRAVO VICTOR, London, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.