Cardiff University study reveals widespread bias against disabled job applicants

A new UK-based study undertaken by Cardiff University, University of Liverpool and Thames Water, has revealed significant hiring discrimination towards disabled job applicants.

The study was conducted in five cities across the UK from October 2022 until July 2023. It consisted of over 4,000 fictional job applications, where a select number included the use of a wheelchair. These applications were targeted at roles in the financial sector such as accountancy where mobility would have no effect on an employee’s performance.

This study has been particularly noted within Wales, which has the highest proportion of disabled people in the UK, at 26 per cent. It has also been revealed that across the UK that one in five employers said they would be “less likely” to hire someone with a disability.

According to Cardiff University, the study highlighted three key findings as a result of these applications.

The first being discrimination in the hiring process and the number of call-back rates for disabled candidates. It was found that companies typically called back disabled candidates 15 per cent less than their able-bodied counterparts with the same qualifications. This same discrimination increased to 21 per cent when looking into lower-skilled financial assistant roles.

The next discovery regarded roles which employers are more desperately trying to fill. It was found that for certified accountancy-based roles, there was no obvious hiring discrimination. This is perhaps reflective of the significant demand for employees within these positions.

Lastly, when testing a person with a disability’s application with more qualifications or experience, such as better education, skills and references, it was found that it surprisingly increased the divide, favouring applicants without disabilities more.

In March 2022, the Welsh Government set out its plan for employment and skills, targeting discrimination within education and the workplace. Despite these goals, aimed to be achieved by 2026, this study has made it clear that the UK still has a long way to go.

According to Senedd Research, evidence shows that there is a 32.8 per cent difference in the employment rate between disabled people and non-disabled people, highlighting the importance of this study to combat ableism in the workplace.

Charities run by disabled volunteers have set out to combat many prejudices toward the disabled community, in hopes it will bridge the gap toward employers.

Disability Wales has said that it wants to ultimately “empower disabled people and their organisations to create change locally, nationally and internationally”.

In addition, the study also explored three alternate job types and employer characteristics.

The first focused on teamwork and customer-facing roles, where they found that there was more disability discrimination than in the accountancy roles. This could be due to fears of prejudice from both fellow employees and customers.

Another issue that was raised was regarding advertised “equal opportunity” jobs. It was found that there was almost no change in the levels of discrimination within the hiring process, despite being advertised as “equal opportunities”. This brings up a significant issue regarding the effectiveness of these roles and initiatives.

Speaking with Cardiff University, Professor Melanie Jones said: “Our evidence of disability discrimination in hiring is clearly counter to it being unlawful in the UK under the Equality Act. That we find a range of mechanisms thought to narrow the disability employment gap are ineffective in addressing hiring discrimination highlights how difficult to challenge it is for policymakers.”

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