Date of Completion

2025

Document Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Nursing

Thesis Type

Honors College

First Advisor

Dr. Marcia Bosek

Keywords

autism, employment, hiring, neurodiversity

Abstract

Autistic people express a strong desire for employment but often encounter significant barriers within traditional hiring processes. Employment outcomes remain poor, with only approximately 33% of autistic adults employed. According to the social model of disability, these barriers arise not from individual impairments, but from societal structures that are not designed to accommodate neurodivergent needs. This study explores the early experiences of autistic adults with hiring processes and identifies ways these processes can be improved to promote success of autistic jobseekers. A phenomenological and participatory research design was employed. Autistic adults with five years or less of employment experience were recruited through a self-selection survey. Data were analyzed using Braun & Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis. Ten autistic adults participated in the study. Analysis revealed five overarching themes and twelve sub-themes. Three themes described participants’ experience seeking employment: hiring processes are anxiety-provoking (1), sometimes the job found me (2), and balancing personal needs with meaningful work (3). Two additional themes captured recommendations for improvement: neurodivergent-friendly hiring processes (4) and assistance with hiring processes (5). Findings emphasize the need to adapt hiring processes to better support autistic jobseekers. Strategies such as increasing transparency and clearly communicating what to expect during interviews may reduce anxiety. Institutions of higher education and professional organizations should consider offering tailored internship programs that foster both skill development and networking opportunities. Additionally, the healthcare sector in particular stands to benefit by making employment more accessible to the autistic community.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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