Guest editorial: The disability inclusion challenge

The idea for this special issue of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal was born out of various conversations between the journal editors and the guest-editor who hosted the 16th Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) International Conference at City St George's, University of London, 10 to 11 July 2023. The conference theme was “(dis)ability”. It drew particular attention to this concept because an estimated 1.3 billion people – or one in six people worldwide – experience significant disability (WHO, 2022). The WHO report showed that while some progress has been made in recent years, the world is still far from realizing that people with disabilities have the right to the highest attainable standard of health as those without disabilities. Persons with disabilities continue to die earlier, have poorer health and experience more limitations in everyday functioning than others. These poor health outcomes are due to unfair conditions faced by persons with disabilities in all facets of life, including in the health system itself. In a nutshell, the WHO report provided a gloomy picture by claiming that people with disabilities still face barriers including stigma, discrimination, exclusion from education and employment, among others.These findings are backed up by other studies. A (World Bank, 2023) report stated that barriers to full social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities include inaccessible physical environments and transportation, the unavailability of assistive devices and technologies, non-adapted means of communication, gaps in service delivery and discriminatory prejudice and stigma in society (see https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability). A UN 2018 report (United Nations, Disability and Development Report, 2018 at https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2019/07/disability-report-chapter2.pdf), reflecting on overall progress toward the sustainable development goals from the perspective of persons with disabilities like poverty, hunger and nutrition, found that the gap between persons with and without disabilities is not closing. Recent research at a national level (see UK Parliament motion, 2024 at https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/challenges-faced-by-people-with-disabilities/) confirms the challenges faced by people with disabilities, such as inaccessible online services, infrastructure that can be physically inaccessible and attitudinal barriers.On a more personal level, I have experienced physical and mental challenges faced by myself and colleagues in my institution. As a disabled media sociologist myself, I started conducting research that revolves around EDI issues in relation to the information society, namely, participatory policies and access to information in the Internet era with the intended impact to influence government policies. Apart from my professional role, I have a deep personal commitment to tackling EDI issues and this has motivated me to take on the roles of associate dean EDI in my school and co-chair for City St George's Disability Network. City St George's has changed radically in the course of time I have been here and many improvements have been made, but certainly many more things should be done in the workplace to accommodate the needs of disabled staff and students. The conference that I organized intended to raise awareness of such issues.The objectives of the conference were to:The papers presented in the conference addressed a wide range of disability issues, including disability and intimate partner violence, disability and gender, social construction of disability identity, disability and the (post-) pandemic workplace, cultural variation in hiring people with disabilities. However, the conference went well beyond the issue of disability to tackle wider EDI issues, such as law and inclusion, neurodiversity and assistive technologies, neurodivergent academics, women and work, mental health and the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, experiences of sexual and gender identity minorities, diversity and emotional labor in the gig economy, impact of workplace networks on minorities career advancement, etc. Therefore, this special issue publishes a selection of papers that were presented in the conference that make robust empirical, theoretical or methodological contributions to a wide range of EDI matters, as well as experiences of policymakers and practitioners. It serves as a strong request to governments, policymakers, scholars and the civic society. It underscores the necessity to acknowledge the nuanced understandings of the systemic nature of disability and wider EDI issues and their impact on practices and policies.This special issue aims to bring together scholars researching disability as well as a wide range of related EDI issues. These scholars gave insightful presentations in the 16th EDI International Conference at City St George's, University of London, in July 2023. In this special issue, I hope to challenge the assertions that disability has been addressed satisfactorily, highlight the diverse and intersecting realities faced by disabled people across geographical and cultural boundaries and explore the potential of what to do differently for creating a more equitable, inclusive and just society. Above all, there is a belief that we must direct more energy to changing the structural base of organizations, alongside raising the awareness of the staff. This way the research can result in more inclusive behaviors and attitudes that will ultimately become part of the organizational culture.The first article, titled “Cultural variation in hiring people with disabilities: a theory and preliminary test” and authored by Thomas et al. (2025), claims that persons with disabilities (PWD) do not have their equal rights recognized to the same extent as other groups. Although the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been ratified by 187 countries, nevertheless PWD continue to experience barriers when attempting to gain and maintain employment. The authors refer to several published studies that confirm that, even to this day, PWD are universally underemployed as compared to the base employment rate. This means that, despite the broad adoption of the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, there is a wide range of the employment rates and significant variability in the treatment of PWD around the world.The article acknowledges that the vast majority of research with regard to PWD involves a supply side approach that focuses on providing medical, psychological, educational and vocational services to PWD to improve their functioning, stamina and job skills. However, the authors cite works revealing that these models overlook factors related to employer demand and the societal environment. There are several reasons impacting on the treatment of PWD in organizations, including the socio-political context, the climate of the organization and managerial viewpoints toward PWD. The study at hand looked at the extent to which the socio-cultural context influences hiring of PWD through its effect on the disability inclusion climate of organizations. In keeping with institutional theory, it investigated how people in specific national contexts are influenced by the cognitive (social construction process), normative (mechanism of social obligation) and regulative (through rules, laws and sanctions) aspects of institutions.The authors suggested that societal culture affects the disability inclusion culture of the organization through two processes. The first, referring to the regulatory aspect, is that the societal context impacts on the social institutions through their objectives, the way and manner in which they operate and the logic for their policies. In particular, the exact implementation of legislation regarding PWD across countries may have an effect on the individual's legitimacy judgment (i.e. the evaluations that assess specific actions or decisions as desirable or appropriate within a specific context. Borrowing from existing literature, the authors claim that the disability inclusion environment of the organization is less the product of conscious adherence to legislation than it is what is considered legitimate in society. The second mechanism of cultural influence, relating to the normative approach, suggests that the disability inclusion climate is a symptom or manifestation of culturally based norms reflected in the values and attitudes of managers. The disability inclusion climate may be the key driver of hiring PWD, however the authors acknowledge that both supply side (e.g. the characteristics of PWD) and demand side factors (e.g. the societal and organizational environments) would potentially moderate this relationship.Building on existing literature, the article concluded that a key factor in the actual treatment of PWD in organizations is the organizational culture. However, having focused on the wider cultural and socio-economic environment as sources of country level variation in the treatment of PWD, it suggested that future research could include both supply side and other demand side characteristics in order to build a more comprehensive picture of the influence of the socio-cultural context. As the authors mentioned in their study both the age and gender of participants influenced some responses, so the age and gender of decisions makers should be considered to be demand side moderators. Disability is a very broad concept and much research reports variation of treatment of PWD based type of disability, making it an important supply side moderator. Finally, the work claims that, from a practical perspective, organizations can benefit from understanding the connection between the societal context and the climate in their organization. For instance, at the societal level, it is crucial to be conscious of the intermediate factors that influence the effect of legislation on the organizational treatment of PWD and acknowledge that organizations can respond to legislation in many ways.The second article, titled “Diversity and emotional labor in the gig economy” and authored by Ajaiyeoba (2025), deals with the current debates concerning the gig economy or gig work, that is, work-tasks performed for money, but without a formal employment arrangement. The author cites works that verify that the vast majority of such tasks are carried out via Internet applications referred to as gig companies or platforms within the gig economy. And continue that despite most gig tasks are short-lived, lasting mere minutes, the gig economy is currently booming. Of course, the gig economy has broken apart and has effectively eroded the robust links that exist in standard employment settings between employers and employees. Such disintegration has led to a so-called ‘thin’ or weak employment relationships. According to the author, this means the abandonment of organizational responsibility toward employees in favor of financial profits. To get a sense of the magnitude of the phenomenon, the article provides statistics: globally, gig workers now account for up to 12% of the labor market.Turning to the question as to who benefits from this trend, the article mentions that first and foremost the gig economy offers benefits for organizations relating to reduced labor costs, but individuals can also take advantage due to work flexibility and autonomy. But there is a need to develop a deeper understanding of the nature of gig work and the work and life experiences of individuals who participate in it, i.e. the gig workers themselves. Citing relevant bibliography, the author claims that a key feature of the gig economy is algorithmic management (or control), which is the process of monitoring employee performance through the use of algorithmic technology. Algorithms are used to replace traditional forms of management in organizations (i.e. HR managers and line supervisors) while allowing gig platforms to retain some control over how work is carried out on their platforms. Algorithms automate typical management duties such as work assignment, performance evaluation, recruitment and selection. Algorithms rely on the ratings gig workers receive from customers based on preset criteria and goals set by the gig platform without workers' input. 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