Coping with Work-Related Microaggressions

Microaggressions International Students Experience at Workplaces

By: Prathma Sharma & Kira McElwain

We created an infographic to help international students learn to identify microaggressions in their workplace or at their internship site. Our hope is that it provides some validation to those who have experienced microaggressions and tried to brush them off as unimportant. We also provided some information regarding the multitude of ways that microaggressions can impact an individual’s life. There are some suggestions for steps to take if you have experienced a microaggression as well as some additional resources to offer more support.

Social Justice Needs: Identifying and Addressing Microaggressions International Students Experience

A wall graffiti of an asian woman — Photo by Max-Jakob Beer on Unsplash

Currently, there are over 1 million international students studying in the U.S. (Institute of International Education, 2018). This number appears to growing larger and larger with each passing year, even increasing by 1.5% from 2017 to 2018, with the U.S. being the top host of international students in the world (Institute of International Education, 2018). Penn State Harrisburg alone reports having students from over 25 different countries. Unfortunately, along with all of the good things that go along with studying abroad, being an international student also comes with some downsides. International students typically endorse higher levels of homesickness and perceived discrimination, as well as experience linguistic difficulties, cultural barriers, a lack of social support, social isolation, educational system differences, loneliness, homesickness, racial discrimination, and financial hardship (Lian & Wallace, 2018; Poyrazli & Lopez, 2007)

Microaggressions are subtle verbal and nonverbal exchanges that communicate discrimination towards non-dominant racial or ethnic groups and traditionally oppressed groups (Sue, 2010). As international students report higher levels of perceived discrimination, it seems likely that they would be experiencing a greater amount of microaggressions than a traditional, domestic student. Sue and colleagues (2007) identified common themes from marginalizing experiences of international students. Some of these themes were: pathologising cultural values and communication styles of international students, invalidating international issues and perspectives, assumption of homogeneity, exclusions and social avoidance at workplaces/schools, invisibility, and environmental and systemic microaggressions. The negative messages behind these microaggressions were that international students do not belong in the mainstream American culture, that they have limited contribution to the society, and that their needs are not important enough to addressed on a systemic level.

In the workplace international workers will, in an attempt to adapt and fit in with their host culture, often go without reporting the microaggressions that they experience for fear of it being labeled petty, trivial, or nonracial (Shenoy-Packer, 2015). Additionally, specifically in an internship setting, some international students have identified that their supervisors were not culturally or racially sensitive and made comments that were demeaning and centered around stereotypical assumptions (Constantine & Sue, 2007).

As international students appear to be a particularly vulnerable group, we decided to create a easy to access infographic that would provide them with resources to help them learn to not only identify microaggressions, but explain why it’s important to not just brush them off, steps they can take to address the situation, and additional resources they can use in order to seek more information.

Theoretical Rationale: Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)

We felt that the concerns of international students could be best understood and explained by the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994). SCCT draws heavily from Bandura’s social cognitive theory (1986), as it extends the concepts of self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and goal attainment to career development. Self-efficacy refers to a person’s beliefs in their performance capabilities. A person’s self-efficacy beliefs are influenced by their past accomplishments, learning by observation from others, social persuasion, and their physiological states. These self-efficacy beliefs affect a person’s outcome expectations, which are beliefs about consequences of a particular action. More specifically, SCCT’s interest, choice, and performance models (Lent, 2013) explain that our career interests are predicted by outcome expectancies and self‐efficacy beliefs. These career interests predict career goals, which in turn lead to behaviors related to choosing and practicing activities, which then contribute to performance attainments.

With regards to international students, microaggressions may negatively influence their self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations (Figure 1). For example, a qualitative study on experiences of African-American college students found that racial discrimination and microaggressions lowered their self-esteem, had negative impact on their sense of self, and led to negative perceptions of their campus environment (Harper et al., 2011). International students are also at risk for internalizing negative stereotypes and beliefs which are directed at them (Sue, 2010). These negative internalizations may in turn impact their self-efficacy (Korgan et al., 2013). Furthermore, experiencing microaggressions can often cause international students to feel invisible, invalidated, and excluded (Houshmand et al., 2014; Sue at al., 2007). They may experience high personal and environmental distress (Smith et al., 2011). International students are also at a higher risk for experiencing real/perceived personal and professional barriers (such as work restrictions, language/communication difficulties, racial discrimination, and lower growth opportunities). Experiencing lower self-efficacy coupled with the above mentioned personal and professional barriers, could predict narrower range of professional interests and lower outcome expectations in international students. Microaggressions may also contribute to reduced sense of accomplishment and negative perceptions of work environment, which would eventually affect international students’ goal attainment and persistence capabilities at work. Because self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and career choices and performance are intrinsically linked, negative experience in one aspect spills over to rest of the aspects. Taken together, microaggressions have the potential to cause unfavorable personal and professional outcomes for international students; therefore, it becomes imperative to aid international students in recognition and management of these marginalizing experiences.

Figure showing the mechanism of how microaggressions influence an international student's career development. — *Figure 1*. Microaggressions predicting vocational choice in international students through social cognitive career theory. Adapted from “Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance”, by R.W. Lent, S.D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994, *Journal of Vocational Behavior*, 79-122, p.88.

Based on SCCT, our change mechanisms for this project are aimed at increasing empowerment and decreasing help seeking stigma in the international student population. We are hoping to raise awareness of the pervasive and unintentional racial microaggressions experienced by international students on campus by providing psychoeducation on how these experiences are harmful at individual, interpersonal, and systemic levels. We are encouraging self-reflection in the students about microaggressions, to challenge any negative internalized beliefs they might have as a result of their marginalizing experiences. Moreover, we are hoping to validate their experiences which might have left them feeling isolated, invalidated, invisible, and distressed. We wish to convey that there’s hope and that they can seek for support; they should not feel guilty or responsible for these negative experiences. Finally, we are proposing quick and simple strategies or approaches to constructively address racial microaggressions they might experience at their workplaces. We are encouraging international students to seek support and advice from role models/guides/counselors to prevent and minimize the negative impact these microaggressions could have on their sense of self.

Resources Needed

Following is the list of required resources for successful completion and distribution of this infographic:

A graphic designing software/tool is needed if any changes need to be made to the infographic or if someone wanted to re-create it. For this project, we used Canva, which is freely accessible from canva.com.
Access to colored printing services is required for printing the infographic.
The infographic can be displayed across campus announcement boards; hence permission to post on announcement bulletin boards is required.
Website and social media accounts are required for e-distribution of the graphic.
Collaboration with other departments/offices (such as career services, student engagement, student affairs, graduate studies, counseling and disability services, and health services) is encouraged for a wider circulation of infographic to international students.

Delivering Services

The office of International Student Support Services (ISSS) oversees a variety of programs and events for international students; therefore, they are the first line of contact for many international students. We originally intended for our product to be in the form of a trifold pamphlet that could be distributed across campus through the ISSS office at Penn State Harrisburg. They could have printed colored copies of the pamphlet and have it displayed on announcement boards across campus, where it would have been easily accessible to the student population. Additionally, ISSS would have collaborated with other on-campus departments/offices (such as career services, student engagement, student affairs, graduate studies, counseling and disability services, and health services) for a wider circulation of infographic to international students.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to alter our plans and instead format our infographic to be an image that we provided to the ISSS office coordinator. Our infographic can be easily distributed via e-mail and/or uploaded to the ISSS’s website or their various social media platforms. Nevertheless, it is our hope in the future that ISSS might distribute our infographic in the form that it was originally intended so that students would have access to it without needing to be able to access the internet.

Expected Outcomes

Colorful image of holding hands depicting diversity and support — Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

We are hoping that international students at Penn State Harrisburg will find comfort in the infographic that we created. They have the information which they could use to take the suggested steps or utilize the additional resources we provided. Moreover, we want them to feel validated and supported, and to know that they are not alone in their experiences. For measuring the expected outcomes, in future, the ISSS office could provide a survey assessing level of satisfaction with our infographic and the information it contains. Based on the results/feedback, they could update it to reflect information that the students identify as pertinent. There is scope to edit the infographic and tailor it to meet the needs of international students if they do not feel that the infographic is detailed enough or if there is a more specific topic that students wish more information on. Additionally, the ISSS office could even build off of our product and host a panel discussion regarding microaggressions at the workplace/internship site for students to be able to attend and ask questions in real time. Through these panel discussions, students could discuss the reasons why it is important to develop their abilities to recognize and acknowledge racial microaggressions as pervasive biases. They could also learn and practice more helpful approaches to manage these experiences.

Looking ahead, there are few more suggestions which could be done to better address the experiences of microaggressions in international students. For instance, on a larger level, training workshops could focus on raising critical consciousness among campus faculty and staff around racial microaggressions international students experience. These workshops would provide a safe space where faculty and staff could engage in personal and professional reflections on their evolving racial awareness, frequent occurrence of racial microaggressions, and sensitivity to international students’ experiences. Besides training workshops, ISSS could create a safe space/blog online where international students could anonymously share their experiences of microaggressions directed at them. It could help in increasing awareness about the prevalence of these marginalizing experiences, and foster empathy towards the international student population. Lastly, ISSS in collaboration with CAPS could run support-groups for students which aim at increasing self-efficacy, compassion, and sensitivity towards each other.

Finished Product: The Infographic

This is the infographic which provides information on what microaggressions are, why it is important to be aware of them, how they impact international students' mental health, work performance and enviroment, what some of the ways are to constructively manage microaggressions, and helpful resources that students can use. — Our infographic on microaggressions experienced by international students at their workplaces.

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs.

Constantine, M., & Sue, D. W. (2007). Perceptions of racial micro-aggressions among black supervisees in cross-racial dyads. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 142–153. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.54.2.142

Harper, S. R., Davis, R. J., Jones, D. E., McGowan, B. L., Ingram, T. N., & Platt, C. S. (2011). Race and racism in the experiences of Black male resident assistants at predominantly White universities. Journal of College Student Development, 52(2), 180-200. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2011.0025.

Houshmand, S., Spanierman, L. B., & Tafarodi, R. W. (2014). Excluded and avoided: Racial microaggressions targeting Asian international students in Canada. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(3), 377-388. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035404

Institute of International Education (2018). Number of International Students in the United States Reaches New High of 1.09 Million. Retrieved from https://www.iie.org/Why-IIE/Announcements/2018/11/2018-11-13-Number-of-International-Students-Reaches-New-High

Korgan, C., Durdella, N., & Stevens, M. (2013). The development of academic self-efficacy among first-year college students in a comprehensive public university. Higher Education in Review, 10, 11-37. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315729807_The_Development_of_Academic_Self-Efficacy_among_First-Year_College_Students_in_a_Comprehensive_Public_University

Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79-122. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1994.1027

Lent, R. W., & Brown, S. D. (2013). Social cognitive model of career self-management: Toward a unifying view of adaptive career behavior across the life span. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(4), 557-568. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033446

Lian, Z. & Wallace, B. C. (2018) Prevalence of past-year mental disorders and its correlates among Chinese international students in US higher education. Journal of American College Health, 68(2), 176-184. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2018.1538147

Poyrazli, S., & Lopez, D. (2007). An Exploratory Study of Perceived Discrimination and Homesickness: A Comparison of International Students and American Students. The Journal of Psychology, 141(3), 263–280. https://doi.org/10.3200/jrlp.141.3.263-280

Shenoy-Packer,S. (2015). Immigrant professionals, microaggressions, and critical sensemaking in the US workplace. Management Communication Quarterly, 29(2), 257-275. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318914562069

Smith, W. A., Hung, M., & Franklin, J. D. (2011). Racial battle fatigue and the “Mis”education of Black men: Racial microaggressions, societal problems, and environmental stress. Journal of Negro Education, 80(1), 63-82. www.jstor.org/stable/41341106

Sue, D. W. (2010). Microaggressions and marginality: Manifestation, dynamics, and impact. John Wiley & Sons.

Sue, D. W., Bucceri, J., Lin, A. I., Nadal, K. L., & Torino, G. C. (2007). Racial microaggressions and the Asian American experience. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13(1), 72-81. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.13.1.72

Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A. M. B., Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271

May 3, 2020May 5, 2020

Student disAbilities Career Resources

Exploring Career Interests in Students

with Disabilities

Created By: Julia Amburgey & Alex Turner

This consultation intervention focused on helping students with disabilities at Penn State Harrisburg to increase their self-confidence and professional abilities, common within self-efficacy, through identifying their career interests and providing them with resources as they enter the workforce. This was based on three models of Social Cognitive Career Theory, where the consultants aimed to increase the self-efficacy and perseverance of students, help foster positive career outlooks, and decrease any negative perceptions they may have of themselves. These goals were accomplished through five key resources provided to Student DisAbility Resources by the consultants, including: 1) Updates to the DisAbility Resources website, 2) A workshop PowerPoint, 3) A post-workshop survey, 4) Improved connections for workshop advertisement/a flyer layout, and 5) A PowerPoint slide describing Student DisAbility Resources to be utilized during new student orientation.

Social Justice Needs: Breaking Barriers for Students with Disabilities

This intervention aimed to help students with disabilities as they narrow their career interests and navigate entering the workforce. Erickson et al. (2017) found that there is an employment gap of 40.7% between people with disabilities and those without, with only 35.5% of individuals with any disability working. Additionally, for those who are employed, individuals with disabilities have a median wage equivalent to two-thirds of individuals without disabilities (Erickson et al., 2017). With this information, it becomes clear that taking an active approach in assisting this population to succeed in the workforce is a necessity.

One of the steps in this process involves increasing awareness of media messages and perceptions. According to Haller and colleagues (2006), the identity of the disability community is constantly altered and maintained by media messages. This is supported by Zhang and Haller (2013), who found that positive media messages portraying people with disabilities as superheroes increased the self-esteem and self-image of those with disabilities. Conversely, negative media messages portraying people with disabilities as ill or victims were associated with lower self-esteem and life satisfaction (Zhang & Haller, 2013). Zhang and Haller (2013) also found that these media portrayals of superhero, ill, or victim were not necessarily even true for people with disabilities. Regarding internal perceptions of self-efficacy in relation to career choices, Luzzo and colleagues (1999) found that compared to their peers without disabilities, students with disabilities demonstrated less self-efficacy (i.e., belief that one can accomplish a task) in their career decision-making and more pessimistic outlooks of these decisions. These studies demonstrate the powerful effects both external and internal ability appraisals can have on the self-esteem and self-efficacy of individuals with disabilities.

To illuminate areas where messages about disabilities and work could improve, the consultants paired with Student DisAbility Resources (SDR) at Penn State Harrisburg. The consultants collaborated with the coordinator of SDR to identify specific needs of students with disabilities. These needs included: reducing the stigma of and discrimination against individuals with disabilities on campus and in the workplace, increasing attendance of career-related workshops, and increasing the accessibility to career services for students with disabilities.

In order to reduce the effects of stigma and discrimination related to individuals with disabilities, the consultants aimed to increase students’ self-efficacies and explore their outcome expectations (i.e., beliefs about what will happen) related to their future careers. Rather than focus on deficits portrayed by the media, society, and family expectations, the consultants attempted to focus attention on students’ interests and capabilities through use of an online, federally operated career interest profiler called O*Net (https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip). In addition, the consultants sought to provide greater resources through sharing information about federal laws, agency contacts, and beneficial accommodations in the workplace. This information was provided in three facets: 1) The SDR website was updated to include this federal information and information about career resources and O*Net, 2) A workshop was developed to discuss the resources SDR provides and demonstrate how to navigate O*Net, and 3) A single-slide overview was created that describes the services SDR provides, so it can be used at new–student orientation in the hopes of increasing the normalcy and decreasing the stigma associated with accessing these resources.

Regarding the second aspiration of increasing attendance to career-related SDR workshops, the consultants assisted in providing new methods to promote their workshops, as well as a survey to measure interests for future programs, benefits received from attending the workshop, and the efficacy of promotion techniques for the workshop. In utilizing new techniques and the survey, the consultants aimed to supply SDR with tools to identify students’ topics of interest for future workshops. With a greater understanding of student interest in combination with more efficacious methods to promote workshops, it is expected that workshop attendance would increase. Lastly, the consultants provided contact information for campus Career Services in workshop material and included a link to the Career Services website in the updated SDR website.

Theoretical Rationale: Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)

When considering the needs of students with disabilities, SCCT provides a beneficial framework to identify mechanisms of change in this population through looking at their career interests, career choice options, and persistence in their occupational pursuits (Lent et al., 1994). Through SCCT, the consultants identified several change mechanisms, including self-efficacy, outcome expectations, psychoeducation/consciousness–raising, and the instillation of hope. These are enveloped within the interest model, choice model, and performance model of SCCT (Lent et al., 1994).

The interest model describes how one’s self-efficacy and outcome expectations combine to form their career interests (Lent et al., 1994). Within self-efficacy, students and future professionals may question their abilities to successfully perform tasks within the workplace. Components that influence one’s self-efficacy include vicarious learning through guides and role models, social persuasion, past behavior, and one’s physiology and affect (Lent et al., 1994; Bandura, 1986). Within vicarious learning, guides are involuntarily chosen individuals (e.g., family members) in one’s life who play a role in either increasing one’s self-efficacy to be able to pursue various careers, or hindering one’s self-efficacy regarding certain careers (e.g., potentially thinking one is incapable of pursuing a certain career path due to internalizing messages that their disabilities limit their career options). Conversely, role models are voluntarily chosen in one’s life and generally serve as mentors who help one navigate their career journey (Lent et al., 2000). This project seeks to provide resources to challenge messages that one’s disability limits their options for pursuing future careers. It is hoped that through increasing students’ self-efficacies, they will be more likely to choose role models who embody the success that individuals with disabilities can have within the workplace.

Social persuasion includes media messages individuals receive regarding their performance capabilities. Specifically, students with physical and/or mental disabilities may have received negative or maladaptive messages about their capabilities from society, media, and their peers, as well as from negative past experiences in the workplace (e.g., Zhang & Haller, 2013). This could have led to negative core schemas about their worth or ability in the workforce, thus decreasing their self-efficacies (Brown & Lent, 1996). By developing an O*Net workshop and providing resources on the SDR website regarding current laws and protections for individuals with disabilities, the consultants aimed to alter negative schemas students may have developed in response to media messages they received. This new information presented on the Penn State Harrisburg SDR website provides the opportunity for students with disabilities to develop a positive perspective of their abilities through online media. This newly acquired information and positive perspective may allow students with disabilities to move past any negative experiences in the workforce and instead, be provided with resources to help them push through barriers.

The second component of the interest model describes individuals’ outcome expectations, which are personal beliefs related to the consequences one expects will follow a specific behavior (i.e., a thought process of “If I do X, what will happen?”) (Lent et al., 2000). Providing the resources of federal laws for people with disabilities on the SDR website will help illuminate the legal protections available to them in their future workplaces. With this increased knowledge, students will be able to understand what they are allowed, able, and encouraged to ask for from their future companies and human resource departments. This greater clarity may garner more confidence in individuals as they enter the workforce. Values and reinforcers are two primary concepts that influence one’s outcome expectations, such that individuals learn what to expect from their jobs based on their values (Lent et al., 1994). The consultants hope to increase students’ awareness of their values through providing an explanation of the O*Net interest profiler resource. Additionally, the consultants provided SDR with a PowerPoint presentation about O*Net to use in future workshops. With these resources and psychoeducation opportunities, students will be able to narrow down what they would like to pursue in their future careers based on their values and interests, as well as looking at the education and certificate requirements necessary for these jobs. This may also increase students’ self-efficacies due to greater knowledge of their capabilities and job education requirements (Lent et al., 1994).

The interest model further describes aspects that either reinforce or refute the outcome expectations individuals have developed in their careers. In this sense, reinforcers act by strengthening what an individual believes is possible, thereby solidifying individuals’ career schemas (Brown & Lent, 1996). In reference to our project, students with disabilities have unfortunately likely encountered many reinforcers which have solidified schemas that they are unable to pursue certain careers. This project seeks to challenge these negative reinforcers by offering students resources geared toward identifying their career interests (i.e., O*Net) and providing opportunities to explore these interests (i.e., providing SDR with a PowerPoint about O*Net to use for future workshops). Through this, these students will be encouraged that their interests are feasible pursuits. Moreover, students can be given direction and support in their attempts to make their interests a reality through workshops and resources provided by the consultants to SDR. In addition, updating the SDR website to include laws that protect individuals with disabilities in the workplace will aid in better equipping these students to be knowledgeable of their rights within the workplace and therefore self-advocate against influences that would seek to reinforce negative schemas about individuals with disabilities in the workplace.

In the SCCT choice model, one’s resources, supports, barriers, perceived barriers, and levels of perseverance are all characteristics that influence the choices one makes in the workplace. One’s resources, perseverance, and hope to continue persevering all need to be greater than their barriers for individuals to move forward in pursuing their career choices that align with their interests (Lent et al., 1994; Lent et al., 2000; Lent & Brown, 2013). In order to provide greater resources and supports for students, the consultants provided information regarding federal protective laws for individuals with disabilities. These laws can help guide individuals’ conversations with future employers about their rights in the workplace. Providing students with information about these laws, as well as O*Net, may help to alter negative schemas to increase more positive and adaptive thought processes as an intrinsic resource. The workshop outline on how to use O*Net may also provide resources on how to incorporate one’s interests into future careers. Using this workshop, members of SDR could become role models for students who would like to learn more about their career interests and their rights within the workplace.

Students with disabilities have also likely encountered many barriers (whether external or internal) that hinder their pursuits of certain careers that may align with their interests. Examples of barriers students may have encountered include explicitly receiving messages (from media, peers, guides, etc.) that they are incapable of performing certain tasks due to their disabilities, or internal perceived barriers that they are not capable of pursuing certain careers, so they should not even try (e.g., Luzzo et al., 1999; Zhang & Haller, 2013). The consultants sought to challenge these barriers and perceived barriers by providing students with resources that help them begin pursuing careers in line with their interests (i.e., offering workshops on O*Net) and demonstrate to students that there are likely several potential careers that align with their interests based on their O*Net results. In doing this, the consultants and SDR aim to instill hope in students that their goals for work are achievable. After identifying their career interests, the university could then support these students in meeting the educational criteria required for these careers and provide them with knowledge about their rights when they eventually enter the workforce. Through these actions, the university and SDR would be working against systemic barriers that send messages to students with disabilities that they are less able to pursue their career interests than other students. In addition, the consultants, in working with SDR, expect to refute internalized perceived barriers students with disabilities may have through demonstrating to them that they already took major steps toward advancing their careers. These steps may include, and are not limited to, identifying their career interests through attending the O*Net workshops and educating themselves about protective laws on the SDR website to be able to advocate for themselves in the future.

Lastly, the performance model of SCCT assesses why individuals continue to persist in their workplace choices despite potential barriers that arise (Lent et al., 1994). This persistence also involves shifting outcome expectations to be more optimistic and continuing to build one’s self-efficacy (Brown & Lent, 1996). The consultants provided resources through the altered SDR website and O*Net workshop to increase students’ distress tolerance, thereby helping them persist through tough career situations. Additionally, the consultants provided knowledge about protective federal laws to help maintain students’ outcome expectations and self-efficacies when looking for jobs.

Resources Needed

In order to complete this intervention, organizations will require multiple personnel, physical, and system-level resources. The preferred facilitator for O*Net workshop would be a master’s–level (or higher) professional who is familiar with disability resources. Alternatively, the presenter may be familiar with Career Services. In order to create a safe environment where students can debrief their results if desired, it is preferred that a master’s–level (or higher) therapist/psychologist be present at the workshop. Staff members are required who are familiar with and able to make website alterations, create media advertisements to promote workshops, and analyze any statistical data retrieved from workshop surveys. Each of these individuals will also require several physical resources.

For the SDR website updates, the organization must have an SDR website on which they can describe O*Net and federal laws. Regarding the O*Net workshop, this intervention necessitates access to high-speed internet, a computer lab or room with computers, the O*Net website, a printer, copier, ink, and paper for flyers and surveys for the workshop, PowerPoint, and a projector. The organization will also need access to marketing resources to promote workshops, such as social media sites, mass email list servers, televisions or other visual advertisements, and print labs for posters. On a systems-level, the organization needs to be capable of connecting with resources that offer career services to students with disabilities, in addition to being aware of and advocating for the rights of individuals with disabilities in the workplace.

Delivering Services

Through working with SDR at Penn State Harrisburg, the consultants delivered the services of updating the SDR website, advertising for an SDR event on campus, creating a survey to distribute to students after SDR events, and creating a presentation for future O*Net workshops. Regarding the SDR website, the consultants maintained open contact with the coordinator of SDR at Penn State Harrisburg, as well as with the associate director of marketing and communications at Penn State Harrisburg in order to make and finalize the website changes. The consultants researched federal laws related to students with disabilities both in the academic and workplace contexts, which the consultants then added as a new tab to the SDR website for students to access. In order to ensure all website changes were accessible, the consultants were careful to make sure all websites were able to be accessed freely by the general public, and without the necessity of creating an account.

In relation to advertising for an SDR event held on campus during the Spring 2020 semester, the consultants created a flyer template with the event details, that was then scheduled to be promoted through social media outlets, televisions on campus, and printed copies of the flyer distributed across campus. In addition, the consultants created a brief post-workshop survey to be distributed to students after SDR events in order to measure the efficacy of the event content and promotion, and gauge interest for future event topics. Lastly, the consultants created a PowerPoint presentation about O*Net, to be used in future workshops pertaining to career interests for students with disabilities. This presentation also included information about federal laws that were updated on the SDR website, as well as resources for students to contact if they ever felt like they were being discriminated against, whether in academic or workplace settings.

It is the consultants’ goal that this O*Net workshop will be delivered by SDR facilitators (referenced in the personnel resources above). The consultants provided guided notes in the PowerPoint for facilitators to follow, in order to accomplish the goal of not only demonstrating how to use O*Net with students, but also ensuring the presentation promotes discussion about career interests and perceived barriers among the students and facilitators. If a therapist/psychologist is present at the workshop, the facilitator can direct students to discuss their results with these individuals, especially if they are feeling confused or overwhelmed about their results. In this sense, this workshop is not designed to be a singular event that instructs students on how to navigate the O*Net website, but rather a continuing process whereby students can continue to engage with Student DisAbility Resources, Career Services, and Counseling Services as they navigate their academic trajectories and work toward achieving their career aspirations.

Expected Outcomes

The goal of this intervention is to identify how individuals with disabilities can connect their interests with their future careers and navigate any barriers that arise. In this way, the consultants hope that the students’ self-efficacies will increase and that any negative schemas or outcome expectations these students held previously will be mitigated by the resources provided and replaced with optimistic outlooks on their career endeavors.

Regarding specific outcomes expected from this consultation intervention, the updates made to the SDR website are expected to increase students’ knowledge of federal disability laws that protect them in the workplace, with the hope that they are better able to self-advocate for their rights and seek out workplaces that are dedicated to ensuring they thrive in their environments. This outcome could be measurable based on self-reports from Penn State Harrisburg graduates. It is also hoped that through the information provided about O*Net on the SDR website, students will be able to utilize this resource to explore their career interests. With this information and resources, it is also possible that students may have increased perseverance and self-efficacies to follow their interests and arm themselves with resources to help them in their futures. It is also the consultants’ aim that SDR will be able to provide a greater ease of access to federal laws and O*Net both in one-on-one consultation sessions and through students visiting their website. SDR may be able to measure the success of their website changes through click rates. Many of the expected outcomes from the website changes are replicated in the workshop PowerPoint. Specifically, this workshop could help SDR utilize a more defined method to effectively talk about career possibilities with students with disabilities. Success of the workshop may be measurable through post-workshop survey results.

The consultants hope that the post-workshop survey will allow SDR to gain more information about efficacious advertising avenues, as well as gauge the most helpful aspects of workshops and students’ interests for future workshops. With this information, SDR could create more applicable workshops in the future and help give a voice to students with disabilities based on their indicated interests. Throughout the process of developing the O*Net workshop, the consultants helped to make a connection between SDR and the 25-live media advertising avenue on Penn State Harrisburg’s campus. Moving forward, it is the consultants’ hope that SDR staff will continue to utilize this method and measure efficacy through success rates of students’ attendance to events and students’ responses to the post-workshop survey. Lastly, the consultants hope that SDR uses the updated orientation slide to further advertise DisAbility Resources on Penn State Harrisburg’s campus starting as early as new student orientation. This orientation slide includes information about how to get involved with SDR, specifically describing their workshops. It is hoped that this information provided early at orientation will help reduce stigma associated with seeking guidance from Student DisAbility Resources, and also increase students’ likelihood to schedule consultations with SDR so they are better able to thrive during their time in college and beyond into their careers.

The Finished Products

As stated throughout this intervention, one of the consultants’ main products was updating the SDR website. This update included the addition of two new tabs: Career Resources and Federal Laws. For career resources, the consultants connected SDR and Career Services, and provided a step–by–step guide to a federally–owned and operated site which helps individuals narrow their career interests (i.e., O*Net). The step-by-step process was narrowed to ten easy–to–follow steps, which included screenshotted images explaining how to follow along in the O*Net website itself. In order to promote workshop opportunities hosted by SDR, the consultants listed common workshop topics held by SDR in order to gain interest for future event attendance. Regarding the tab on federal laws, the consultants met with SDR coordinator at Penn State Harrisburg to discuss laws he thought were most pertinent to list on the website. The consultants also conducted their own research online to find further laws and website links to laws descriptions so students can easily access these full descriptions. To supplement the links, the consultants wrote brief and easy-to-understand summaries of each law listed (e.g., ADA, AD91). Based on these laws, the consultants provided an avenue for students to contact if they feel they are being discriminated against. To view the document submitted with website updates, please see Appendix A. The consultants replicated the website changes into a PowerPoint to be used in an SDR-hosted workshop describing O*Net and federal laws. The consultants included notes in the PowerPoint to help facilitators describe how to navigate O*Net and discuss federal laws. The full workshop PowerPoint is included as an attached document in Appendix B.

The post-workshop survey asks students questions such as how they heard about the workshop, what they learned from attending the workshop, their levels of awareness about federal protective laws and the SDR website, if they have ever attended an SDR event in the past, and what they would like to see in future SDR events. A copy of the survey can be found in Appendix C. While in the process of creating the O*Net workshop, the consultants also created a flyer layout to start using with the Mock Interview event that was co-hosted by Career Services and DisAbility Resources at Penn State Harrisburg. It is hoped that this layout and methods of advertisement will continue to be used for future workshops, including the O*Net workshop created by the consultants. The flyer template that was used to advertise the mock interview workshop can be found in Appendix D. Lastly, the slide created for SDR to use during new student orientation describes the resources SDR provides (including the website) and how to get in contact with SDR. This is attached as a document in Appendix E.

References

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Erickson, W., Lee, C., & von Schrader, S. (2017). Disability statistics from the American Community Survey (ACS). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Yang-Tan Institute (YTI). Retrieved from www.disabilitystatistics.org

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Zhang, L. & Haller, B. (2013). Consuming image: How mass media impact the identity of people with disabilities. Communication Quarterly, 61(3), 319-334.