Disability the ‘last bastion of discrimination’
As he sped through school, university and graduate studies earning top marks and distinguishing himself as a high achiever, Tim Rose dared to believe he could overcome any barrier. He has cerebral palsy.
“Maybe it was arrogance,” he says, looking back. “Maybe it was my experience in a postgraduate setting; I felt supported at every level. “
His progress came to a shrieking halt when he entered the labour market. Armed with a master’s degree in law and human rights, a long list of voluntary achievements and a powerful work ethic, he was “quite sure I was going to walk right into a job.”
What he walked into instead was a wall of intolerance and rejection. At first, Rose attributed his lack of success to a weak economy. Other postgraduates were having trouble too, he reasoned, working as baristas at Starbucks. His older brothers confirmed it was a tough job market for everyone.
Rose sent out resumé after resumé, targeting organizations with equity policies. No results. He branched out to banks, non-profit organizations and private employers. Still no offers. He asked contacts who had helped him along the way for referrals. “I got a smattering of part-time work as a research assistant or peer counsellor, but nothing sustainable.” A year went by, then two, then four. Still unemployed and struggling to get by on disability support, Rose faced the truth. Like thousands of other talented, motivated Ontarians with disabilities, he was sidelined. His self-assurance withered. He fell into a perpetual depression (a phrase he attributes to former lieutenant governor David Onley, who was partially paralyzed by childhood polio).
“No matter how much confidence you have, when you keep hearing ‘no,’ your self-worth takes a serious hit,” Rose recalled. “I was just married. I couldn’t provide. That can be a scary thing.”
He’d almost hit rock bottom when a friend told him about Mark Patterson, the executive director of Magnet, a notfor-profit initiative by Ryerson University and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. Its mission was to connect employers with the untapped pool of educated and highly motivated job seekers with disabilities. They arranged to meet.
“For the first time in four years, I felt like someone was willing to take a chance on me,” Rose said. “He saw my struggles, but recognized my potential.”
The timing was propitious. Magnet needed someone to build a digital platform that would allow job-seekers with disabilities to register and build a profile, highlighting their qualifications and interests. But Patterson needed to secure the funding. He said he’d get back to Rose.
And he did. “I was on the verge of tears — as was my wife — when he offered me a position. This was what I’d spent four years searching for.”
As leader of Magnet’s diversity project, Rose has a full-time salary, the chance to use both his experience and his brainpower and a supportive team of co-workers. He officially joined the team two weeks ago. Last Wednesday, he launched his digital platform. On Thursday he celebrated his 31st birthday.
Today, the young man who had almost lost hope of becoming a contributing member of society has a purpose, a paycheque and more passion than any employer could ask.
“I believe Magnet is the solution I never had,” he said. “We can make a dent in the last bastion of discrimination.”
As of last week, 70,000 job seekers had registered. Six thousand employers had signed up. Twenty-five universities and colleges were using the platform to help students and graduates with disabilities find employment.
Impressive as those numbers are for a start-up, the problem remains huge. According to the Canadian Survey on Disability, 53 per cent of Canadians with disabilities are unemployed. Half of them have a post-secondary degree or certificate.
Rose admits he doesn’t have the whole answer. His platform provides a connection only to employers known to be disability-positive. It doesn’t tackle the stigma that blinds recruiters to the talent and motivation of the 3.8 million adults with disabilities. “Will we convert every employer? I’d like to say yes. Realistically, probably not.”
What he does foresee is that Magnet’s job-matching technology will give people with disabilities a foothold in the working world. It will alleviate the fear of disclosing they have a disability. And it will become a showcase for success stories.
“This will be my life’s work,” Rose vows. “I can’t let others go through the hell I went through.”