Managing Disabilities and Toxic Environments: Roen's Story

 

Roen graduated in 2010 after studying a Bachelor of Science, with a double major in maths and science, and was already anticipating potential difficulties in finding careers.

“The original intention was to do astronomy of some sort, although I deliberately kept it broad enough that it could be repurposed to some other careers if needed,” they explained.

However, it was experience in their chosen field that caused Roen to second-guess entering the field entirely.

“Towards the end of my degree, during one of the break periods, I got a scholarship for an undergrad research project in my chosen field. Let’s just say that I ended that six-week project feeling like I was not cut out for that field,” they explained.

There were many factors that went into this feeling: Roen had unidentified (at the time) psychological and neurological disabilities that led to them feeling they weren’t “good enough” to keep up with the pace required of the work. In addition, the expectations and high pressure of the field deterred them significantly.

“I found the pure expectation of hours and putting academia above everything else in your life wasn’t compatible with my values. I didn’t want to be a workaholic, and it turns out night shifts are really bad for me, which is obviously not compatible with optical astronomy.”

Roen was also opened up to the toxicity of the academia environment, battling sexism (as a then female-presenting individual), incredibly high expectations, and the drop of support from lecturers when they made it known they did not want to enter the field.

“If I, and two male-presenting colleagues, asked a question to the lecturers, they wouldn’t make eye contact with or direct their answer to me, even if I was the only one who had spoken,” Roen said. “There was also an expectation that you would drop everything, even family, to put your research first, 24/7. (An) ‘if you’re not answering your emails at 11pm you’re weak’, sort of thing.”

Roen noticed an immediate drop in support from lecturers following letting them know they were not intending to enter the field. They said they were deprioritised, with lecturers who had previously had a lot of time for them suddenly  prioritising other students because Roen wasn’t interested in academia. The same principles were mostly extended when Roen sought help to enter the workforce, with the exception of one person who “kept an ear to the ground for jobs.”

 

The road to employment was filled with many bumps, especially due to Roen’s disability. They  told me that they initially “got connected to a state public service job in statistics,” that lasted for a year due to job cuts, before they worked in a chocolate shop while waiting for the next round of grad programs. It was then that Roen’s disability and illness began to interfere with their working life.

“Six months into a different statistics program I had to leave due to illness. I tried to pick up a Masters of Teaching the following year, but they weren’t willing to make my newly-required documentable disability adjustments. I spent a couple of years too sick to work or study .”

Trying to return to the workforce after being too sick to work proved difficult from Roen for a while, as they explained:

“When you’re in a position of having to start from scratch, you have both no options and infinite options/ It’s simultaneously demoralising and overwhelming.” Having a disability didn’t help, as Roen added, “A major repeated theme was the unwillingness of most employers to make even basic disability adjustments, even when the medical issues underlying it were well documented.”

 

Roen  eventually got a job working with the NDIS on the basis of lived experience and lasted a year and a half at the job before their disability needs were no longer deemed reasonable by the agency after transitioning to the full scheme. Roen has spent the last three years at their current job at the not-for-profit disability advocacy organisation.  

Having been through a lot in their journey, Roen has strong advice for those who are considering working outside the field of their degree.

“Firstly, that is a 200% (sic) valid option. Increasingly, we’re living in an economic environment where people have several disparate careers over time, instead of sticking to one thing for 40 years like we were taught to expect to. Whether by circumstance or change of mind, these things happen. Having an adaptable skillset is the best thing you can do to prepare for that. Don’t beat yourself up over sunk-cost fallacies. Saying we should have done something differently in hindsight is great, but we don’t have hindsight until it’s too late.”

 

For those with a disability, Roen has a list of things you can do to ease the difficulties of entering the workforce from their personal experience:

·         “Document the hell out of everything, even the things you think don’t need documenting, or the things you don’t need to make any adjustments for yet.”

·         “Be a member of a union. It seems like an unnecessary expense when the rest of your life is already expensive. It’s unnecessary until it’s not, and when you need it, you need it.”

·         “You can carve out a niche that works for you. There might be resistance because organisations don’t like doing things differently to how they’ve always done things. Tell ‘em to get stuffed and do things your way anyway.”

 

The most important thing, for anyone, is to not lose hope. Speaking highly of their current situation, Roen says, “My current employer has supported me in ways that I never thought any employer would or could. We’re just as valuable in the workforce as anyone else. You just need a boss who’s smart enough to see that.”

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Opportunities and Networks Leading to a New Career: Sarah's Story

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The name in this story has been changed at the request of the participant for privacy reasons. 

Sarah graduated from RMIT in Melbourne in 2018 with a Certificate IV in Youth Work, but life soon took her in a different direction.

After working for around six months with her degree in a youthspace support role at Headspace, Sarah soon became involved in politics.

She first met the MP she currently works for after attending a leadership program funded by the State Government in Victoria.

“I built rapport with them,” Sarah explained. “I asked to help with their campaign as 2018 was an election year.”

Now, as an Electorate Officer for the Victorian Parliament, she has no regrets about the switch and believes that her previous job helps her in her current field.

“Life experience working in youth work is good experience for using in parliament,” Sarah told me.  “It doesn’t relate directly to my job but informs my experience.”

Before landing the job with the Victorian MP, Sarah had already amassed a lot of work experience, as she told me she was “Considered already part of the work force as (she) had worked in hospitality since 16,” as well as previously interning for MP’s. She found that Parliament was different as it, "is more professional, and the stakes are higher.”  Sarah told me that she “didn’t find it difficult but didn’t find it easy.”

Despite her work experience, Sarah still ran into some problems working in Parliament, as she explained.

“The most difficult thing was pressure management in Parliament when I was a young person. I was still a teenager when I landed the job. It was something to get used to as a representative of Government.”

Some of her difficulties were also mental, as she told me that she had “performance-related doubts,” and “doubted that (she) would be good at it because (she) didn’t have the qualifications, but in the end, those doubts were proved wrong.”

 

Despite moving into a different area, Sarah found that RMIT helped her a lot when she was initially looking into youth work.

“RMIT is very hands on, so they assume that everyone doing the course is intending to work in the field. Youth Work did placement to help me get a job.”

Despite the help she received, Sarah does believe that Universities could offer more to help their students.

“They could work with students to discover what their careers are,” she said. “All universities have a long way to go. They can teach you how to read and write, and deal with pressure, but can’t teach you how to land a job. Everyone gets a law degree but no one becomes a lawyer.” She believed that she “got lucky” as her experience came outside of University.

 

Sarah has a lot of advice for those in a similar situation. Firstly, work experience:

“It helps,” she said. “If someone came into the office now to give their resume, I’d want to see experience. If they didn’t have paid work I’d wonder why. Students get stuck in the study phase of their lives. Learning is only half of what you need for the job.”

 

Secondly, opportunities and connections are vital.

“Take advantage of any contacts or networking and every opportunity that falls into your laps. It is overused but they teach you to say yes to everything. It’s only by taking opportunities that you learn what you like and don’t like.”

 

Thirdly, take any help you can get.

“Always find a mentor,” Sarah said. “I had a mentor in the leadership program and it helped inform my career.”

 

Finally, having changed fields, Sarah believes, “the worst thing you can do if you’re unhappy is not change. For example, ‘I’m a scientist because my degree is science.’” Drawing on personal experience, Sarah said that her father had never liked an office job and never taken the time to retrain because of obligations to the family.

 

As you can see from Sarah’s story, work experience and connections are important. Take advantage of any opportunity you can, and it is never too late to change careers. There are a lot of opportunities if you’re willing to put yourself out there. 
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