"Advantages and Challenges of Neurodiversity Employment in Organizations"
Recently neurodiversity, has been championed as an important but overlooked variable that may promote innovation, creativity, and improve productivity in the workplace (Austin & Pisano, 2017). Neurodiversity conceptualizes neurological development, historically regarded as atypical, or even as diagnosable disorders, such as autism or dyslexia, as normal human variation (Jaarsma & Welin, 2011). Proponents of this notion go further in arguing that in organizational contexts, this difference can produce tangible benefits, such as increased productivity or creativity (Austin & Pisano, 2017).
The purpose of this special issue is to encourage and provide a forum for research that scrutinizes the benefits and challenges of integrating neurodiverse talent into organizations. Thus, we seek both empirical and conceptual submissions, and while the focus is on neurodiversity, we welcome submissions that apply insights from research on diversity or disability employment in general to further inform this newly emerging inquiry. Importantly however, this Special Issue focuses on contributions that frame 'disability' as ability, such as in the example of autism in the workplace, and the associated benefits and challenges. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the field, we invite contributions from a range of perspectives including but not limited to management and organization studies, information systems, psychology, rehabilitation counselling, education, and disability employment. We further invite contributions from leading practitioners in the field.
Schedule of submission and deadlines:
• Short abstract (1000 words) (optional, for initial discussion and comments) due: 4 August 2017 - Prospective authors please email to a.krzeminska@uq.edu.au
• First full paper (5000-6000 words excluding references) due: 5 January 2018
• First decision on full paper: 1 March 2018
• Revision due: 15 July 2018
• Publication date: late 2018
Anna Krzeminska, University of Queensland, Australia
Susanne Bruyere, Cornell University, US
Rob Austin, Ivey Business School, Canada
Darren Hedley, La Trobe University, Australia