Forbes
Superpowers Wanted: Inclusive Hiring Practices And People Who Learn Differently
Jan 26, 2021By Heather Wishart-Smith
Ms. Wishart-Smith is the SVP of Technology & Innovation at Jacobs
Imagine you are conducting a job interview, and the potential employee sitting in front of you noticeably dodges making eye contact. Or they re-arrange some of the items on your desk. Or when completing an application, their handwriting and/or spelling are atrocious. Or they stand up in the middle of the interview and pace the floor while composing a reply to a question you asked.
Is this a scene out of The Office? Is Michael Scott about to walk through the door?
These seemingly off-putting behaviors might be deal killers for many hiring managers. But before you pitch their resumes in File 13 and wonder if you should complain to your talent acquisition folks for allowing this person to get on your calendar, hit the pause button. The person in front of you may have a neurological condition that puts them on the learning diversity spectrum, and in fact they may even be the perfect hire, if you understand what you’re looking at and how their talents could be ideally suited for the role you have in mind.
When we think of inclusive hiring practices, how readily do we consider diversity in people’s learning styles as a component to be mindful of?
Digging through the innumerable articles out there of famous and successful people who have overcome various learning disabilities, we turn up names such as recent Nobel Prize winners Carol Greider (2009 – Medicine), Jacques Dubochet (2017 – Chemistry) and John B. Goodenough (2019 – Chemistry) as well as business luminaries like billionaire investor Charles Schwab and billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, and the world’s (arguably) best-selling author of all time, Agatha Christie. There is no shortage of stories of prosperous and creative people who thrived in spite of – and many times because of – their learning disabilities. Others on this list have last names such as Mozart, Einstein, Spielberg, Jobs and Edison.
In modern Western culture, we greatly prize robust individuality as evidenced by the thousands of movies, shows, books, etc. we consume on a daily basis where the protagonist overcomes (or better yet, leverages) their “differentness” to succeed. Of course, every person is unique which means their neurological composition, learning styles and reactions to social situations (including job interviews) are going to be unique as well.
For employers in STEM-related industries, this is an especially relevant topic. Consider this: in a 2012 Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders article, per a study entitled Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Participation Among College Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, it was found that “students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had the highest STEM participation rates although their college enrollment rate was the third lowest among 11 disability categories and students in the general population.” Put another way, the report found that “young adults with an ASD who attend college are most likely to pursue STEM majors.”
This predilection for STEM-related vocations among adults with an ASD has been reported in such outlets as The Independent; in 2015, the newspaper reported on a nationwide experiment in the UK, developed by Cambridge University and involving almost a half million respondents from the general public, which confirmed that people working in science and engineering roles were much more likely to be on the autism spectrum.
A lot has been written about employees on the autism spectrum, and there seems to be a general appreciation for what they bring to STEM careers (people seem to think of them as “brilliant minds” who may be a little different). When it comes to other learning disabilities such as ADHD, dyslexia and dysgraphia, there is more prejudice. People think of those with ADHD as being too distractible, unable to focus, having impulse control issues, etc., when in fact hyperfocus can be one characteristic of ADHD. Those with ADHD, dyslexia and dysgraphia tend to be very creative (they have had to find different ways to solve their problems during their formative years) and have demonstrated grit (many kids aren’t diagnosed until later in life, and they’ve had to persevere). Neurodiverse learners quite often have superpowers that can make them outstanding candidates for jobs in technology and innovation.
If you were to ask most hiring managers if they wanted recruits who were innovative, determined, outside-the-box thinkers, it’s a fair wager you would get a universal “Yes”. So why then might we be quick to stumble at neurological diversity when it comes to interviewing candidates for positions at our organizations? Are we potentially robbing ourselves of truly outstanding and game-changing hires because the same traits that have propelled those individuals as persistent and creative problem solvers are also the same traits that might surface as social quirks during an interview process?
Of course, not everyone with a learning disability is going to be the next Barbara Corcoran or Henry Ford. And of course, not everyone who may appear different, impulsive or distracted during a job interview has a learning disability. However, if hiring managers are willing to challenge their own biases when they find themselves interviewing a job candidate who at first blush may look, act, speak or write in an off-putting manner, and they consider whether these differences could be caused by a learning disability rather than poor manners or education, they just might discover they have a budding superstar on their hands.
How can we rethink our approach with respect to neurological diversity in our candidate ranks? One starting point is to gain a few insights from educators who specialize in teaching non-traditional learners.
“Highly creative minds often bring along with them dimensions which make it hard to sit still in a classroom setting that’s not really designed for that kind of a thinker,” said Mike Saxenian, Head of School for the McLean School in Maryland, which serves bright college-bound students, including those with dyslexia, anxiety, ADHD or organizational challenges. “Yet, those are the very kids who are going to grow up and be entrepreneurs or scientists developing whole new ways of thinking about things. It starts with recognizing that minds that are wired for creativity are a huge asset, and our job is to recognize a student’s strengths. For hiring managers, my advice is to first be very precise in their own thinking and in how they communicate about the job regarding what it is that they’re looking for. Avoiding stereotyping candidates with a “one size fits all” framework. Rather, be very clear on what it is that will enable success in the job that is being hired for.”
One practical consideration is the job description itself. Is the language used on the posting contributing to an unnecessary barrier for non-traditional learners because the hiring manager simply copied and pasted from one position to another? For instance, does the posting use generic phrases such as “must be a good communicator” or “willingness to travel” when in fact those elements aren’t truly required of the position? What you might simply gloss over could be a potential deal-breaker for someone who excels at data analytics but recognizes they struggle with spelling or have social communication challenges.
“Our job as hiring managers is not to hire people who look like us,” said Saxenian. “It’s to match the skills with the needs of the job. The ability of someone with ADHD to hyperfocus in coding or cybersecurity is a great example. Often you can match a skillset of someone who might appear to be quirky with a job that needs to be done, and they’ll be extraordinarily good at that job.”
“My suggestions for hiring managers reflects my approach toward all interviewees. My goal is to first put the candidate at ease,” said Dr. Karyn Ewart, founder and Head of School of The Sycamore School in Virginia. “My approach to interviewing mirrors my attitude toward our students at The Sycamore School: we all have weaknesses and areas of growth. My hope is to create an environment where students AND staff feel comfortable discussing these areas, and we can work together to come up with some creative approaches and solutions. I want to create an environment where the candidate feels comfortable discussing any learning struggles or weaknesses, so we can dialogue about how I could support their growth. A learning struggle isn’t something to be ashamed of or hide.”
“I think we have to lose the notion of disability. Embracing students for learning the way they do is a big part of giving them the comfort to really explore their ‘superpowers’ and build on them. We’re not defining them by what they can’t do; we’re seeing them for what they can,” added Saxenian.
“Some of my strongest and most gifted teachers have learning differences, so it’s important not to make assumptions based on a label,” said Dr. Ewart. “For example, several of my staff who have Attention Deficit Disorder are extremely organized, regularly making lists and staying on top of their responsibilities. Similarly, some of my strongest writers are staff who have dyslexia. I believe these developed strengths resulted from learning to compensate for their disability, turning what was once a deficit into a strength.”
For organizations that aspire to be innovative, a willingness to think differently when it comes to hiring people who think and act differently is vital. There is a population of highly creative and innovative individuals who can make awesome contributions if given the chance. But first, it requires hiring managers to shift their focus from hiring for the job interview and instead hire for the job.