Disability Inclusive Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center
Research to enhance employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Disability Inclusive Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center
Research to enhance employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

The Intersection of Disability, Race, and Employment
To see a chart with data from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, please view this webpage on a desktop computer.
Chart Description: The chart above shows two distinct groups for employment rate across time. People with disabilities (no matter their race) have lower rates of employment than those without disabilities by almost 40 percent. People with disabilities’ employment rate falls between 20 to 40 percent across time, and the employment rate of those without disabilities hovers between 60 to 80 percent employment. Showing the complex intersection between race and disability, Black Americans with disabilities hold the lowest rates of employment across all groups followed by a volatile employment rate for Asian and Indigenous peoples with disabilities.
The Disability-Inclusive Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (DIEP RRTC) is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR, grant #90RTEM0006-01-00) in the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services. Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, Harvard Medical School, and Rutgers University are partnering to design and implement a series of studies that produce new data and evidence on DIEP policy to increase employment rates and outcomes for persons with disabilities.


The DIEP-RRTC will examine federal, regional, state, and private industry policies and programs to identify critical outcomes and impacts that improve employment entry options, better wage and income levels, worker retention and job quality and benefits, career growth and paths to economic stability, employment reengagement in the event of job loss and reduced dependence on Social Security disability benefits.
Disability Employment Research Areas

We identify ways to help people with disabilities successfully re-enter the workforce.

Find ways to improve job happiness and keep employees employed and fulfilled.
News
DIEP RRTC Publishes Research Brief Discussing Positive And Negative Implications Of Expanded Telework For Workers With Disabilities
View DIEP RESEARCH BRIEF: Telework After COVID: Challenges and Opportunities...
Honoring the Life and Work of Judy Heumann
March 6, 2023 Source: Southeast ADA Center and the Burton...
Mason Ameri’s interview with Ben Casselman of the NYTimes published at Listen to Live Conversations With Journalists From The New York Times
For disabled Americans, employment is soaring DEC. 12, 2022 Link:...
Learning Opportunities
Read more about the innovative research pushing disability employment policy issues ahead.
Listen to our amazing speakers and guests who discuss topics from current policy and research topics.
Learn more from our engaging and interesting discussions on various disability employment policy issues.
Read more about the innovative research pushing disability employment policy issues ahead.
Listen to our amazing speakers and guests who discuss topics from current policy and research topics.