The PROUD Project, May 2019

I have recently initiated The PROUD (Phenomenological Research/Remedies On Unemployment and Disability) PROCHE [Phénoménologique (recherches et résolutions) aux chômage et handicapées] Project, which is a four year research effort, funded by the joint Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Department of National Defence Research Council Initiative.
The PROUD PROCHE Project is a bilingual study exploring the successful employment of adults with disabilities in Canada, the US, England, France and Belgium.
It will be interviewing employees with disabilities and, their employers, about the behaviours and conditions which allow them to subvert the obdurate trend against hiring disabled persons.
Currently, I will be working alongside a post-doctoral fellow, Andrea Whiteley, who recently received her PhD in Communications from the University of Calgary. Dr. Whiteley has long and robust experience in undertaking this type of phenomenological research. Whiteley’s PhD thesis examines the problem of “open access” of social science and humanities information and, she has an expertise in knowledge dissemination and translation.
We will be hiring other members of the project in the coming years as needed.
From interviews in multiple jurisdictions, we hope to glean “best practices” in terms of integrating qualified disabled adults into the workforces of liberal democracies. All of these countries have adopted laws aimed at encouraging the inclusion of disabled workers but ongoing data indicates that these statutory efforts have not yielded concrete results — the low rates of employment among qualified adult persons with disabilities remains unchanged or falling. Through our research, we intend to renew and renovate approaches to the substantive inclusion and integration of employees with disabilities in workplaces, as well as in broader socio-economic communities.
The PROUD PROCHE Project is located in the Department of Political Science, Highland Hall Rm: HH584, Scarborough College, University of Toronto.

Please feel free to contact me at: chloegk.atkins@utoronto.ca if you have questions, information or, contributions to be made to The PROUD PROCHE Project.

We welcome input.

Best wishes for the spring!

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