Blind People in the Workplace: Examining the Barriers to Meaningful Employment of Blind Canadians

The project with the Canadian Federation of the Blind, an organization working to establish positive and productive roles for blind people in Canada, will include the researching, development and implementation of a mixed-methods survey providing accurate statistics on the employment of blind people in the Greater Victoria area and narratives on their experiences in seeking and attaining meaningful employment. A quantitative survey will gather demographic information, including gender, age, race and ethnicity, educational level, income status, number of years employed or unemployed and the type of work undertaken by respondents. In addition to this, the survey will include questions regarding any job-related support services accessed, barriers to employment such as a lack of subsidized specialized equipment, and an assessment of level of travel skills and level of ability to read and write Braille. A follow-up sub-sample of respondents will be asked open-ended, quantitative interview questions in order to gather data about their experiences of seeking and maintaining employment, as well as what barriers they have faced in trying to join the workforce. After the research team has collected this quantitative random sample and qualitative sub-sample, they will analyze both sets of data and produce a comprehensive report of the findings.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Cecilia Benoit

Student:

Kate Vallance

Partner:

Canadian Federation of the Blind

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Service industry

University:

University of Victoria