Changing Outcomes for Job Candidates with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Benefits of Neurodiversity Training and ASD Disclosure.

purposeJob interviews are often an integral component of the hiring process, but for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), job interviews can pose an unfair barrier to employment. Although employers may perceive candidates with ASD as qualified, they tend to reject those candidates in interviews because of atypical social interactions. This is true in situations in which evaluators are naïve to candidates' ASD diagnosis and have no training about neurodiversity. The present study explored whether diagnostic disclosure and/or increased ASD knowledge can reduce bias against ASD candidates.

methodsWe included three conditions: Disclosure-Only, Training-Only, and Training + Disclosure. In all conditions, participants watched mock job interviews of candidates with and without ASD, rated each candidate on several social dimensions, and indicated how likely they were to hire each candidate. In the Disclosure-Only condition, participants were informed prior to each video whether each interviewee had ASD. In the Training-Only condition, participants first completed a neurodiversity training session before watching and evaluating the interviews. The Training + Disclosure condition combined these interventions.

resultsIn the Disclosure-Only and Training-Only conditions, candidates with ASD were rated less favorably on social dimensions and were less likely to be hired relative to neurotypical (NT) candidates. In the Training + Disclosure condition, ASD candidates were equally likely to be hired as NT candidates, despite receiving less favorable ratings on some social dimensions.

conclusionCombining knowledge of ASD with diagnostic disclosure improves hiring outcomes for individuals with ASD.