Spurrier, Harry2024-07-052024-07-052022https://hdl.handle.net/2440/141536This item is only available electronically.People with disability number 1 billion people globally and 4.4 million in Australia, thus making up one of the world's largest minority groups. Only 42% of Australians with disability are employed, compared to 80% of the non-disabled population, and many employed people with disability are subject to underemployment. Employment can provide stability, autonomy, and purpose, and most people with disability indicate wanting employment. Yet employment statistics have not changed significantly in the last 3 decades. An inductive content analysis was conducted on six semi-structured interviews with a unique sample of people with lived experience of disability and their position as an employer. This study explored the talk-versus-action problem in the disability employment gap through understanding mental concepts of disability and how these compare to current hiring and retainment operations. It also assessed benefits and limitations of possible solutions for aligning these concepts to actualised change in hiring and retaining practices. Findings showed that there is no "fix-all" solution to the employment gap and that there is a need for an inclusive solution that still upholds the individuality of disability. This could involve a mix of homogenous programs that have enough depth to account for changes in the heterogeneity of disability. A framework was developed to assist employers to iteratively reflect on their concepts of disability and current hiring practices, whilst implementing new programs in their own organisation. This will help contextualise disability and employment but allows iteration and flexibility so as not to simplify this complex phenomenon.Honours; PsychologyThesis