What Works in Wales? Developing an evidence base to inform a kitemark for employers to address the disability employment gap

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ContextIn June 2018, DW Chief Executive Rhian Davies was a keynote speaker at a launch event organised by the Learning and Work Institute Cymru and the WG, to address the disability employment gap in Wales. This made 6 recommendations: one was to 'develop a Wales Disability Standard': a kitemark for employers to be part of the WG 'Employability Action Plan'. This studentship will collaborate with DW to develop a 'made-in-Wales' standard and will focus on 3 key research questions: Questions1. What factors contribute to the persistent disability employment gap in Wales?2. How can findings from the DRILL programme, which used co-production as a research methodology and provides unprecedented insights into disabled people's experiences of society, the economiy and polity, inform employment polcies and practice?3. What already works for disabled people in employment and how could future initiatives build on existing initiatives/practice to inform the development of a Welsh standard for employers?RationaleMuch existing research on the disability employment gap concentrates on the number of disabled people out of work, often driving the short term political objective of getting disabled people off benefits and into any kind of work and overlooking the importance of job quality and careers. This project aims to highlight what disabled people themselves regard as best practice in employment: currently under-documented in the literature. It is interested in identifying factors, whether organisational, technological, structural, economic or attitudinal, that facilitate employment and specific initiatives that represent 'best practice'.