Supporting Mid-Career Workers with Disabilities

While today’s changing labour market can be challenging for many workers, mid-career workers with disabilities (MCWD) are both more vulnerable to market disruptions and face additional barriers to career adaptability.

Three students working in front of laptops in a library setting.

Ontario Tech University, together with partners including the National Education Association of Disabled Students, Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities and Quebec Association for Equity and Inclusion in Post-secondary Education, has designed a project to assess MCWD needs and develop and evaluate tools and resources to increase their ability to make key decisions about career transitions.

The Future Skills Centre will invest $650,632 in this project, which will take place over two years, and will impact hundreds of mid-career workers with disabilities across Canada.

The project has three aims: (1) to increase peer support and networking opportunities, (2) to develop career adaptiveness and related skills, and (3) to provide a sense of hope about work. This will be accomplished in three phases:

  1. Identifying the needs and experiences of MCWD in their work ecosystem (employers and disability organizations/advocacy groups);
  2. Developing tools and resources that match these needs, including an educational toolkit, peer-to-peer online network, career resources, and a virtual coaching series; and
  3. Testing and evaluating these tools and resources.

The tools and resources will be informed by research into the experiences, perceptions, and needs of mid-career workers with disabilities.

Evaluation Strategy

This project will be evaluated using tools and approaches aligned with its goals, context, and stage of development. The evaluation will focus on generating the right evidence at the right moment to move the intervention forward. Read more about our evaluation strategy.

Featured Projects

two workers in a technical environment look at a piece of machinery
l’état des compétences

L’apprentissage intégré au travail

L’apprentissage intégré au travail peut s’avérer efficace pour développer des compétences techniques et non techniques chez les apprenantes et apprenants, à différents niveaux, y compris dans les écoles secondaires, les collèges et les universités, ainsi que dans des postes professionnels.

Shot of a businesswoman having a meeting with her colleague while using a digital tablet.
Projet

Travailler au Manitoba

Ce projet cherchait à résoudre les problèmes des employeurs de la province pour entrer en contact avec les bons talents et naviguer sur de multiples plateformes de recrutement sans garantie que les annonces parviennent aux candidats qualifiés.
A young indigenous woman in a library.
Projet

Centre autochtone de formation en TIC

Ce projet a examiné les avantages potentiels de l’établissement d’un Centre autochtone de formation en TIC afin de proposer, dans ce secteur, des services et une formation au sein des communautés locales.