interesting insight this is. while not looking at the legal implications of this, the sheer ridiculous nature of qualifications make me both laugh and cry at the same time. i'm waiting for that illusive light at the end of the never ending tunnel!
On 2/16/17, Shireen Irani <[email protected]> wrote: > this article talks about the situation in the US, but it is no > different from the 1 we face here in India. the application form at > JNU also demanded that we go through the whole process of acquiring a > new disability certificate in a format prescribed by the MHRD i think, > which required the ophthalmologist to fill out details about whether i > can wiggle my fingers, bend-over, and lift weights: abilities that > make a true Professor/ academician! > :-) > > > article: > > how academic jobs screen out disabled people. > > Nearly every academic job listing claims not to discriminate based on > disability. A lot of them still do. > > By David M. Perry > > Every faculty job advertisement at Holy Cross College at Notre Dame, > Indiana, comes with this statement: > > block quote > Physical Demands > block quote end > block quote > Repetitive movement of hands and fingers — typing and/or writing; > occasional standing, walking, stooping, kneeling or crouching; > reaching with hands and > arms; talking and hearing. > block quote end > block quote > Ability to lift and carry up to 20 lbs. > block quote end > block quote > NOTE: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature > and level of work being performed by the person assigned to this job. > They are not > intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, > skills, and physical demands required of personnel so classified…. > Holy Cross College > is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are based > on qualifications and are made without regard to race, color, national > origin, age, > sex, disability, or any other legally protected status. > block quote end > > Holy Cross College seems like a nice, co-educational Catholic school > in one of the great college towns in America. There’s no reason to > think the school’s > administrators are particularly ableist or interested in > discriminating against people with disabilities. But Holy Cross—like > dozens of other institutions > of higher education across the country — keeps appending these clauses > to job ads. Imagine if you were deaf or in a wheelchair and wanted to > apply, then > read that “walking, talking and hearing” were required. Would you even > finish the application? > > block quote > These job ads send a different message: “Be normal or you can’t have > this job!” > block quote end > > Despite the note appended to the end, echoing language in accordance > with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, this statement is > arguably discriminatory. > The practice, however, is common. If you go to HigherEdJobs.com and search > for “ > 25 pounds > ,” you’ll find 654 entries right now that require various degrees of > physical ability, often accompanied by other statements mandating > “normal” modes of > communication. Some of these positions are in jobs like nursing, where > required lifting might be entirely reasonable, albeit still subject to > laws around > reasonable accommodation under the Americans With Disabilities Act. > Others, like all the jobs at Hood College, Maryland, > routinely repeat a boilerplate set of physical demands > that do not seem remotely relevant to the job—though Hood’s at least > uses the hedge-word “may” and explicitly talks about accommodations. > > At least when taken to the extreme, as Holy Cross seems to do, the > practice is problematic. I’ve been writing about and tracking such > clauses in higher > education job ads for a year, and expert after expert — including > legal counsel at the EEOC — agrees. Human resource directors cannot > just pile up physical > demands that are not linked to the core requirements of the job. > Roofers need to climb ladders. Truckers need to drive. Professors need > to teach, an act > that generally requires neither walking, stooping, kneeling, or > carrying—or, for that matter, oral speaking or aural listening. > > Don’t Look to the Movies to Learn About Disability The next time you > meet a disabled person, throw the films you’ve watched about them out > the window and > discuss film…psmag.com > dont-look-to-the-movies-to-learn-about-disability-7e6d50db4d25 > > The key word here is requires, which carries with it a legal meaning > not related to most of these positions, and certainly not most faculty > jobs. To be > clear, Holy Cross is not the problem here, but merely an instance of > requirement creep filling up the legalese of hiring practices. I > initially came across > one of these job ads at a branch public campus in Massachusetts, and > found them permeating both Texas and Arkansas systems. My resulting > exposé, “ > Disabled People Need Not Apply > ,” did result in some changes in cases where I successfully engaged > individual human resources managers at specific universities, > but structural transformation has been harder to achieve. Moreover, > the problem is not confined to colleges and universities. You can find > similar requirements — especially > the “must carry 20/25 pounds” clause — in job listings across > industries. Social-media managers for non-profits or technical > companies shouldn’t be “required” > to carry heavy weight, yet, for some reason, many of them still are. > > What’s going on? I’ve never quite been able to locate the reasoning > behind this kind of clause. In general, the writers of job > descriptions are encouraged > to consider what would be necessary to complete the essential > functions. “Walking,” though, is so clearly not an essential function > for a professor, that > it’s confusing how this has happened. > Karen Nakamura, > the Robert and Colleen Haas Distinguished Chair in Disability Studies > and a professor of anthropology at the University of > California–Berkeley, suggested > to me that at least some of these clauses are intended to prevent > workplace disability lawsuits: If your boss tells you to carry a heavy > box of papers > and you throw out your back, you can sue, but if your job description > included that 25 pounds, then your employer might be safe. > > There’s no evidence anyone is intending to use these clauses to > discriminate against people with disabilities. Indeed, disabled > academics do get these > jobs, if they make it through the application process. Yet such > clauses pre-screen out disabled candidates. The typically abled > candidate might never even > read the bottom of the job description (I never did when I was > applying for such jobs), but if you’re a wheelchair user, you’ve > become accustomed to checking > for them. One academic who uses a wheelchair, who prefers not to be > named because he’s currently on the job market, told me: > > block quote > Someone has taken a lot of time to describe the physical, mental, and > perceptual abilities of a “normal” person. I am disappointed that such > normative > language made it into these job ads. The academic job market is so > trying and exhausting, and for someone with a disability, this sort of > language stokes > my worst fears. > block quote end > > What’s more, legal experts agree that one cannot simply tack on > non-essential “requirements” to every job description. I spoke with > Chris Kuczynski from > the legal counsel office at the EEOC. He agreed that adding physical > requirements to non-physical jobs would “deter people from applying > for these positions” > in contravention of EEOC rules. He also told me that, while the EEOC > could investigate such clauses themselves, the best way forward was > for a disabled > would-be job candidate to > go to the EEOC website and file a charge > in response to a job with a clause that excludes them by > unnecessarily listing a specific physical attribute as essential. > > The Future of Disability Rights in the White House An interview with > Maria Town, outgoing disability liaison at the Office of Public > Engagement.psmag.com > the-future-of-disability-rights-in-the-white-house-53930236a65 > > Back to Holy Cross — again, just an example of the bigger problem, not > a particularly bad actor here. My guess is that Holy Cross would > consider hiring > a disabled faculty member—if one applied. Surely the people there are > of good will and likely even devoted to the inclusive tradition of > Catholic social > teaching, > as suggested by their mission. > But the job ads send a different message, telling the candidate that, > if you want to be their next English professor, you have to be able to > walk, kneel, > and hear. It’s a clause that says, “be normal or you can’t have this job!” > > Over the past few days, I called both the Holy Cross human resources > department and its public relations department, spoke to a number of > officials, and > submitted questions to them in writing at their request. They have not > responded. > > In the meantime, if you are disabled and wish to apply for one of > these jobs, you can contact the > EEOC website and file a charge. > > David M. Perry: > Just your average disability rights journalist, medieval history > professor, TV/movie critic, and Irish rock musician. I also do dishes. > > source: > > https://psmag.com/how-academic-jobs-screen-out-disabled-people-ca4f1fde67ca#.6hp3pf1sl > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
