Paper Details

Name: Supriya Poduval Pal, Neeta Sinha, Aishwarya Vishwakarma, Anmol Mathur, Niyati Shah
Country: India

Year: 2025
Volume: Volume-12, Issue-1 (January-June)
Page Number: 61-72
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20566723

The differently abled continue to face discrimination in several spheres of life, including but not limited to education and employment, as well as social integration. This paper aims to deepen the discussion about the challenges when seeking employment and infuses the Seven-Dimension Leadership Model to understand how such challenges can be dealt with. The framework of this discussion includes how transformation, scope and ethics of leadership can foster organizational change. The focus is on Leaders to practice more of what is relevant and beneficial for the differently abled job seekers and employees.
The Seven-Dimension servant Leadership Model, that grounds on visionary thinking, emotional intelligence, inclusivity, adaptability, accountability, empowerment and innovation etc. helps understand how leadership can be a tool in breaking the barrier to inclusive growth especially for the PwDs. The model addresses the importance of leaders who embrace the principle of creating a barrier free workplace. The incremental benefits of applying this model in companies would be the effective integration, advancement in careers as well as, improvement of the quality of life of PwDs.
This study lists the specific issues that people with disabilities encounter, namely, inability to access education or occupational training resources, discrimination in employment opportunities, lack of accessibility to workplaces, and unsatisfactory workplace structures. Moreover, many organizations do not understand or misinterpret what People with Disabilities (PwD) can offer and, therefore, leave them out of productive work. Such systemic issues require a leadership that is both creative and results oriented in promoting equity.
The paper discusses cases of some private companies which have adopted the leadership strategies consistent with the Seven-Dimension Leadership Model. These corporations engage in policies and practices which ensure inclusivity, modifications and career development policies specific for PwD. Some companies have begun inclusive recruiting policies, while some other have developed employee resource groups and mentorships for employees with disabilities.
Due to those challenges of employability and inclusion which persons with disabilities face, this paper finds that the Seven-Dimension Leadership Model presents a good framework. It also becomes clear that leadership is capable of promoting organizations from mainly the traditional setting, to an inclusive space for all, including the differently-abled.
Finally, the research emphasizes the importance of leadership in changing the landscape of employment for people with disabilities and calls for active efforts that adhere to the seven-dimensional leadership model of practice.
Keywords: Differently abled, Employment challenges, Seven dimension servant leadership model