Still Stuck - An Examination of the Early Paid Employment Experiences of Young Women With Disabilities

Oct 15, 2026

Young women with disabilities face poorer postschool employment outcomes than young men with disabilities and peers without disabilities. Although paid work during high school is linked to later employment, few recent studies detail young women’s early paid employment experiences. This study examines 134 young women with disabilities and describes characteristics of their paid employment, showing reduced paid work experience versus earlier cohorts and patterns reflecting gendered employment trends. Results inform educator and provider collaboration and gender-specific interventions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background and Rationale

Employment outcomes and benefits

Early paid work experience

Study Overview and Research Aims

Participation in paid employment during high school

Characteristics of employment experiences

Effects of age and geographic locale

Prior Evidence and Comparative Findings

Still Stuck: An Examination of the Early Paid Employment Experiences of Young Women With Disabilities Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals 2024, Vol. 47(1) 19–31 © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2023 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/21651434231151665](DOI: 10.1177/21651434231151665)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/21651434231151665)[cdtei.sagepub.com](cdtei.sagepub.com) Kara A. Hirano, PhD 1, Katherine W. Bromley, PhD2, and Lauren E. Lindstrom, PhD 3 Abstract Young women with disabilities tend to experience poorer postschool employment outcomes than young men with disabilities and their peers without disabilities. Paid work experiences while in high school have been identified as significantly increasing the likelihood of later employment, yet few recent studies have examined the early employment experiences of young women with disabilities. This study reports the characteristics of paid employment experiences of 134 young women with disabilities. Findings indicate that fewer young women in our sample had paid work experience than young women nearly 20 years ago, and that early employment patterns are reflective of gendered employment patterns documented in adulthood. Implications for educators and service providers include collaboration across multiple systems and a need for gender-specific interventions. Keywords career development/employment, transition area, high school, contexts, survey, research methodology Beyond having an income, employment is central to individual well-being, providing additional benefits including“social relations, daily structure, and goals all exerting a strong influence on people’s happiness”(De Neve & Ward et al., 2017, p. 145) . Young women with disabilities, however, do not have the same access to the monetary and nonmonetary benefits associated with work given they are more likely to be unemployed than their peers, a pattern that has persisted for decades (Newman et al., 2009) . Identifying and understanding factors contributing to the disparities in employment rates for young women with disabilities is critical to not only addressing disparities in employment and providing access to the benefits of work, but also one key to addressing the high numbers of women living in poverty (Edmonds, 2016) . One malleable factor impacting later employment outcomes is early paid work experience. Students with disabilities who have paid work experiences while they are in highschool are more likely to be employed as young adults (Mamun et al., 2018) . Given the last detailed portrait of young women’s in-school employment experiences was in 2003 (Newman et al.), this study provides an updated description of employment experiences of young women ina Northwestern sample by investigating three specific research aims. First, this study aims to explore the extent to which young women in our sample participated in paid employment experiences while in high school. The second purpose is to report the characteristics of those employment experiences. The final purpose is to explore the potential impacts of age and geographic locale on those experiences. From 2000 to 2009, the U.S. Department of Education funded a follow-up to the original National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2) documenting the experiences ofa national sample of 12,000 students receiving special education services as they transitioned from high school to adult roles. Findings indicated that up to 4 years after leaving highschool, young women with disabilities (ages 17–21 yrs.) were employed less often than young men (Newman et al., 2009). This held true when considering both whether young adults had been employed at any point since high school (75% vs. 65%) or at the time of the interview (62% vs. 46%) for males and females, respectively. Lower employment rates for young women with disabilities in NLTS2

FAQs

Why focus on early paid work experiences for young women with disabilities?

Paid work experiences during high school increase the likelihood of later employment. This study targets the lack of recent research on young women’s early employment experiences.

What does the study find about paid work experience rates?

Fewer young women in the sample had paid work experience compared with young women nearly 20 years ago, and early employment patterns align with gendered employment patterns seen in adulthood.

How do the study’s findings inform practice for educators and service providers?

The implications emphasize collaboration across multiple systems and the need for gender-specific interventions to address employment disparities.

Oct 15, 2026

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