UAB helps disabled students and graduates enter the labour market

02/12/2014

The UAB, with the support of Universia Foundation, has put into motion a new programme to help disabled students and graduates enter the labour market: UAB Impuls. It offers support and assessment in finding jobs and contacts companies to act as a liaison between the candidates and the job positions available.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated on 3 December. Having access to the labour market is fundamental for a person's personal and social development and, with the current conjuncture of high unemployment levels, people with disabilities have greater difficulty in finding jobs. In addition to producing an economic imbalance, this problem prevents them from forming part of society and hinders a vital part of their development and independence.

Despite the actions taken by universities, the number of disabled graduates who enter the labour market and occupy positions related to their studies continues to be low, especially in the case of students with more severe disabilities.

That is why the university created UAB Impuls, as part of a general action to give support to more vulnerable students and help them be better prepared to face the labour market. Thanks to the support of Universia Foundation, the Autònoma Solidarity Foundation (FAS), the Service of Attention to the Disabled (PIUNE) and the Treball Campus are working jointly to offer this programme which aims to increase the presence of students and graduates in companies, through both professional work placements and job contracts. Coinciding with the passing of the UAB 2011-2015 Action Plan for Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, a new model of inclusion was proposed and work began on models for managing diversity within a company. This type of model favours hiring students with disabilities, given that it is based on integrating these individuals into a work environment in which more importance is given to the potential of diversity than to economic or legislative aspects.

Different Types of Action

The programme, which began in June, consists in different actions aimed at students and graduates, and companies. With regard to students and graduates, the programme helps them define their professional objective, aids them in compiling the different elements needed when looking for a job (traditional CV, 2.0 CV, cover letter), informs them about the general and specific job search channels and advises them on how to maintain a job. A Job Club will also be created to foster the search for jobs and create a network between students, who will be able to meet periodically at the resource centre of the Plaça Cívica and work together and get help in finding jobs. With regard to companies, the programme will be in charge to of informing students about job vacancies and selection processes, and information is offered to companies on incentives for hiring people with disabilities and assessing them on the adaptation process.

This programme was nominated as a finalist in the first edition of the Innovative Ideas for Social Challenges competition organised by the employment and economic promotion consortium of the Vallès region.

Three-Hundred Students

According to the UAB census from the Office of Information and Documentation Management, in the 2013/14 academic year, 300 students declared some sort of disability in their enrolment form, and 160 benefited from the services PIUNE offers. It is worth highlighting that not all disabled students require the services offered by PIUNE and that PIUNE offers services to both disabled students and also those with special needs.

Since June, the programme has contacted all students who could benefit from this programme and has worked with over 50 of them. Over 20 companies interested in hiring university students and graduates with disabilities were also contacted.

More information: Fundació Autònoma Solidària