An exploration of access and treatment discrimination and job satisfaction among college graduates with and without physical disabilities

The current study explored the extent to which college graduates with and without physical disabilities reported experiencing discrimination in their overall work histories. Results suggested that respondents with disabilities reported experiencing significantly more access discrimination than respondents without disabilities and that the specific type of physical disability influenced the extent of access discrimination experienced. There were no significant differences in the extent of treatment discrimination experienced by individuals with and without disabilities. The current study also explored the level of job satisfaction reported by currently employed respondents with and without physical disabilities. Results indicated that access discrimination significantly reduced current job satisfaction, and, when it was statistically controlled, individuals with disabilities reported marginally higher levels of job satisfaction than individuals without physical disabilities. These and other results are presented and their implications are discussed.