The shaping of sustainable careers post hearing loss: Toward greater understanding of adult onset disability, disability identity, and career transitions
通过对40名美国受访者的访谈，研究了成年后严重听力损失的专业人士如何通过重新定义自我和职业成功、采用新工作角色及利用社交网络，实现职业转型并维持可持续职业。
Through this interview-based study with 40 respondents in the United States we have outlined enablers of career transitions and sustainable careers for professionals who have experienced severe hearing loss as adults. To sustain careers after adult onset disability, respondents engaged in a quest for meaning and big picture answers to ‘who am I?’ and ‘am I still successful?’ This included redefining themselves – e.g. I am now both a person with a disability (disability identity) and a successful professional (professional identity) – and career success (e.g. now I care about service to society as much as I care about material artifacts). Respondents also adopted new work roles where disability was a key to success (e.g. becoming an equal employment officer) and utilized social networks to continue being successful. Such redefining of work and networks supported the aforesaid quest for meaning and big picture answers. Findings not only indicate how individuals experience career success after a life-changing event but also help defamiliarize extant notions of ableism in workplace contexts.