Call for Papers for Special Issue of IJMR: Neurodiversity in Organisations: Taking Stock and Shaping Future Research
Call for Papers for a Special Issue of the International Journal of Management Reviews
Neurodiversity in Organisations: Taking Stock and Shaping Future Research
Guest Editors
Nancy Doyle, Centre for Neurodiversity Research at Work, University of London; [email protected]
Miriam Moeller, University of Queensland, Australia; [email protected]
Dana L. Ott, University of Otago, New Zealand; [email protected]
Matevž Rašković, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand; [email protected]
Introduction
Coined and defined by Australian sociologist Judy Singer in 1998, the term ‘neurodiversity’ – often described as an ‘invisible inequality’ – refers to the idea that neurological differences that are considered atypical are variations within the diversity of the human genome; thus, balancing the narrative with the positive aspects of differences rather than a sole focus on developmental or social ‘deficits’ (Doyle, McDowall, & Waseem, 2022; Krzeminska, Austin, Bruyère, & Hedley, 2019). With an estimated 15-20% of the population being neurodivergent (Doyle, 2020), neurodiversity covers a plethora of conditions that can vary in severity. The most common are: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (or ADHD), which manifests as inattention, distractibility and impulsivity; Autism Spectrum Disorder (or ASD), typically involving degrees of difficulty in communicating with others and sensory overload; Dyslexia, or difficulties with reading and spelling; Dyspraxia (or Developmental Coordination Disorder), which refers to challenges with coordinating physical movement including muscles for speaking; Dyscalculia, or challenges with numbers; and Tourette Syndrome, a condition which causes involuntary physical and vocal “tics” (Jaarsma & Welin, 2012; Loiacono & Ren, 2018).
The neurodiversity movement (Kapp, Gillespie-Lynch, Sherman, & Hutman, 2012) relies on a positive strengths-based approach grounded in three major principles. The first is that neurological deviations are specialist variations (Jaarsma & Welin, 2012), not illnesses, and form a part of a person’s (social) identity, consequently providing them with specific strengths (Baron-Cohen, 2017). For example, neurodivergent people may have an unwavering focus and pattern recognition capabilities, excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities, and superior memory and mathematical skills to name a few (Austin & Pisano, 2017); this makes them a valuable pool of talent for managers and a unique resource for organisations (Doyle & McDowall, 2021; Khan, Grabarski, Ali, & Buckmaster, 2022; Russo, Ott, & Moeller, 2022). The second is that since neurological differences are merely variations, neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals should be treated equally and equitably (Lorenz, Reznik, & Heinitz, 2017), especially in management and organisation science (Bernick, 2022). Third, the recognition that discourse is important and hence more “ethical, non-stigmatising language and concepts for thinking about people who are different and/or who have disabilities” are needed (Baron-Cohen, 2017), given the performative nature of discourses and narratives on social and organisational inequalities and inequities (Dwertmann & Boehm, 2016).
Neurodivergent individuals remain disproportionately un- or under-employed (Hendricks, 2010; Roux, Shattuck, Rast, Rava, & Anderson, 2015; The National Autistic Society, 2021), often because of stigmatisation that influences perceptions of ‘fit’ by individuals within organisations (Chaudoir & Fisher, 2010). This fact is complicated by the reality that little is known about why some neurodivergent individuals choose to disclose to their employers while others do not (von Schrader, Malzer, & Bruyère, 2014). Disclosure is needed as it enables employers to understand who may require support and adjustments (Sumner & Brown, 2015), because it may be difficult for employers to recognise who may need support. Providing accomodations enables organisations to leverage neurodivergent employees’ unique abilities to meaningfully, productively, and, in some cases, to disproportionately contribute to their organisations’ (Austin & Pisano, 2017) and the wider communities’ success. Furthermore, neurodivergence diagnoses and acceptance in westernised countries is often incongruent to the paradigms in other, non-western countries (Green, 2020). In South Korea, for example, autism is considered a ‘genetic taint’ diminishing an individual’s personal and professional prospects. As such, the roles of cultural interpretations and institutional logics are not well understood, yet their management at the organisational-level have implications on workforce and broader organisational performance (Ineland, 2020; Levine, 2020; Ott, Russo, & Moeller, 2022).
We have arrived at a critical juncture where the neurodiversity literature is unambiguously dispersed across multiple disciplines including sociology, psychology, management, organisation studies, psychiatry, neuroscience, higher education, disability, and others (Macdonald, Rutter, Howlin, Rios, Le Conteur, Evered, & Folstein, 1989; Singer, 1999; Sumner & Brown, 2015, Doyle & McDowall, 2021) displaying disparate momentum in each. Contributions in management and organisation science are only gradually emerging (Khan et al., 2022) and remain fragmented with most focusing on the autism spectrum dimension of neurodiversity (e.g., Loiacono & Ren, 2018 in MIS Quarterly Executive; Sumner & Brown, 2015 in the Psychologist-Manager Journal; Patton, 2019 in Personnel Review). This drastically limits contributions to neurodiversity research in the management and organisation domains. To move this conversation forward, however, we must have theoretical guidance and conceptual frameworks to follow. Thus, literature reviews, meta-analyses, and conceptual works provide unique opportunities to borrow and review knowledge from within the management and organisation science domains as well as other disciplines to assist with setting a future research agenda for meaningful neurodiversity research in management and within organisations (Doyle & McDowall, 2021).
Special Issue Main Themes
As neurodiversity in organisations is still grossly under-researched (Hennekam, Volpone, & Pullen, 2022; Shore, Randel, Chung, Dean, Ehrhart, & Singh, 2011), we invite researchers and practitioners alike to cogitate the lived experiences of the neurodivergent and likewise the neurotypical in the presence of the neurodivergent. Thus, we speak to those who carry a sense of responsibility of devising a working environment that is considered a ‘safe space’ and enables neurodivergent employees to thrive and contribute to the bottom line of organisations (Ely & Thomas, 2020; Russo, Ott, & Moeller, forthcoming) and their communities by making a significant and novel theoretical contribution (Breslin, Gatrell, & Bailey, 2020). We invite reviews of literature informed by other domains (e.g., stigmatisation, power relations, organisational climates, critical disabilities), disciplines (e.g., sociology, social psychologoy, neuroscience) and/or diversities/communities (e.g., the broader disability inclusion literature, LGBTQIA+, generations, minoritised groups) that can guide future research. Just as the Guest Editor team is neurodiverse (both neurodivergent and neurotypical), we encourage co-creation, co-production and contributions from neurodivergent and neurotypical scholars.
Insightful, academically oriented submissions with solid conceptual grounding and actionable practical implications should look for, but are not limited to, addressing the following issues:
- Advancing our understanding of neurodiversity in the context of today’s workplaces and organisations such as the consideration of neurodivergent talent.
- Understanding neurodiversity in the context of DEIB.
- Neurodiversity in a global context, including the role culture and institutional logics play in managing neurodiversity across industries, markets, and communities.
- Connections between neurodiversity, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
- Intersectionality of neurodiversity and other diversity dimensions such as race, ethnicity, or gender.
- Exclusion and exploitations of neurodivergent people, including stigmatisation and performativity.
- Opportunities and challenges of neurodiversity programmes, including disability accommodations for neurodivergent individuals as forms of intervention.
- Conceptual models and frameworks that outline how policy change progresses organisations’ efforts from tokenistic inclusion to systematic inclusion and belonging.
- How organisations can operate around the need for disclosure.
- Neurodiversity and leadership, with a focus on both neurodivergent leaders (at all levels including middle and executive management as well as the board level) and the relationship between neurodivergent employees and leaders in the organisation.
- The development of theoretical framing, and the co-opting of existing theories in management and organisation science to explain neurodivergence and neuroinclusion at work, for example job crafting and the psychological contract.
Submission Process
Authors can submit papers between 15th January – 15th February 2024 to International Journal of Management Reviews for review. Based on IJMR editorial policy, there will be no extensions for submission due date. Manuscripts should follow the Author Guidelines set out by the International Journal of Management Reviews available at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-2370/homepage/ForAuthors.html
Additionally, see also the Editorials at the below site:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/14682370/homepage/editorials
Manuscripts should be submitted online via http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijmr highlighting that you wish to be considered for the Special Issue 'Neurodiversity in Organisations: Taking Stock and Sharping Future Research'.
All papers will be subject to the same double-blind peer review process as regular issues of International Journal of Management Reviews. If you have questions about a potential submission, please contact Dr Miriam Moeller via [email protected].
Submission window: 15th January – 15th February 2024
Guest Editors
Nancy Doyle is a Professor and the co-Founder of the Centre for Neurodiversity Research at Work at Birkbeck, University of London. Nancy also co-founded the non-profit company, Genius Within, which operates in the UK, EU, India and US. Nancy’s work was the basis for the international TV documentary, Employable Me, which helped bring neurodiversity at work into the public consciousness. She is widely published on the topic of Neurodiversity academically. Contact: [email protected], University Profile, and LinkedIn.
Miriam Moeller is a Senior Lecturer in International Business at The University of Queensland, Australia. Miriam takes particular interest in and regularly publishes about human resource management, and diversity, equity and inclusion, and talent management in global organisations. She is serving or has served on the Editorial Advisory Boards of the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, and Journal of Global Mobility, and has been a guest editor for the International Journal of Intercultural Relations and the Journal of Global Mobility. Contact: [email protected], University Profile, and LinkedIn.
Dana L. Ott is a Senior Lecturer in International Management at the University of Otago, New Zealand. Her research interests include and she regularly publishes about cultural intelligence, global mobility, neurodiversity in organisations, talent management, and literature review methodology. Dana serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Review of International Business and Strategy and is the Vice-President Marketing and Communication at the Australia and New Zealand International Business Academy. Contact: [email protected], University Profile, and LinkedIn.
Matevž (Matt) Rašković is an Associate Professor of International Business & Strategy at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. Matt is the Vice-President Administration at the Academy of International Business as well as a Senior Editor for the European Journal of International Management. Alongside serving on several Editorial Advisory Boards such as at Business Horizons and Multinational Business Review, Matt has been a guest editor for the Journal of Business Research, European Journal of International Management, and AIB Insights. Contact: [email protected], University Profile, and LinkedIn.
References
Alegre, J, Callahan, J & Iszatt-White, M 2023, ‘Editorial: Innovative conceptual contributions -Raising the game for theory-driven reviews’, International Journal of Management Reviews, pp. 1-7. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijmr.12333.
Austin, RD & Pisano, GP 2017, ‘Neurodiversity as a competitive advantage’, Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-advantage.
Baron-Cohen, S 2017, ‘Editorial perspective: Neurodiversity - a revolutionary concept for autism and psychiatry’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 744-747.
Bernick, M 2022, ‘Is your company inclusive of neurodivergent employees?’, Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2020/11/getting-serious-about-diversity-enough-already-with-the-business-case.
Breslin D, Gatrell C, & Bailey K 2020, ‘Developing insights through reviews: Reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the International Journal of Management Reviews’, International Journal of Management Reviews, vol. 20, pp. 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12219.
Chaudoir, SR & Fisher JD 2010, ‘The disclosure processes model: Understanding disclosure decision making and post-disclosure outcomes among people living with a concealable stigmatized identity’, Psychological Bulletin, vol. 136, no. 2, pp. 236-256. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018193
Doyle, N 2020, ‘Neurodiversity at work: A biopsychosocial model and the impact on working Adults’, British Medical Bulletin, vol. 135, no. 1, pp. 108-125. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldaa021.
Doyle, N & McDowall, A 2021, ‘Diamond in the rough? An ‘empty review’ of research into ‘neurodiversity’ and a road map for developing the inclusion agenda’, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 352-382. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-06-2020-0172.
Doyle, N, McDowall, A & Waseem, U 2022, ‘Intersectional stigma for autistic people at work: A compound adverse impact effect on labor force participation and experiences of belonging’, Autism in Adulthood. http://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2021.0082.
Dwertmann, DJG & Boehm, SA 2016, ‘Status matters: The asymmetric effects of supervisor – Subordinate disability incongruence and climate for inclusion’, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 59, pp. 44-64. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2014.0093.
Ely, RJ & Thomas, DA 2020, ‘Getting serious about diversity: Enough already with the business Case’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 98, no. 6, pp. 68-77. https://hbr.org/2020/11/getting-serious-about-diversity-enough-already-with-the-business-case.
Fan, D, Breslin, D, Callahan, JL & Iszatt‐White, M 2022, ‘Advancing literature review methodology through rigour, generativity, scope and transparency’, International Journal of Management Reviews, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 171-180. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijmr.12291.
Green, M 2020, ‘Neurodiversity: What is it and what does it look like across races?’, Open Learn. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/mental-health/neurodiversity-what-it-and-what-does-it-look-across-races.
Hendricks, D 2010, ‘Employment and adults with autism spectrum disorders: Challenges and strategies for success’, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 125-134. https://doi.org/10.3233/JVR-2010-0502.
Hennekam, S, Volpone, S & Pullen, A 2022, ‘Neurodiversity at work: Challenges and opportunities for human resource management’, Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Human Resource Management.
Ineland, J 2020, ‘Legitimacy and ambiguity: Institutional logics and their outcome for people with intellectual disabilities’, Research and Practice in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 54-63. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23297018.2019.1641833.
Jaarsma, P & Welin, S 2012, ‘Autism as a natural human variation: reflections on the claims of the neurodiversity movement’, Health Care Analysis, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 20-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-011-0169-9.
Kapp, SK, Gillespie-Lynch, K, Sherman, LE & Hutman, T 2012, ‘Deficit, difference, or both? Autism and neurodiversity’, Developmental Psychology, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 59-71. https://doi.org/doi-org.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/10.1037/a0028353.
Khan, MH, Grabarski, MK, Ali, M & Buckmaster, S 2022, ‘Insights into creating and managing an inclusive neurodiverse workplace for positive outcomes: A multistaged theoretical framework’, Group & Organization Management. https://doi.org/10.1177/10596011221133583
Krzeminska, A, Austin, RD, Bruyère, SM & Hedley, D 2019, ‘The advantages and challenges of neurodiversity employment in organizations’, Journal of Management & Organization, vol. 25, pp. 453-463. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.58.
Levine, SR 2020, ‘Diversity confirmed to boost innovation and financial results’, retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinsights/2020/01/15/diversity-confirmed-to-boost-innovation-and-financial-results/?sh=17ba191bc4a6#6cfac98dc4a.
Loiacono, ET & Ren, H 2018, ‘Building a neurodiverse high-tech workforce’, MIS Quarterly Executive, vol. 17, no. 4. https://doi.org/10.17705/2msqe.00001.
Lorenz, T, Reznik, N & Heinitz, K 2017, ‘A different point of view: The neurodiversity approach to autism and work’, in Fitzgerald, M. & Yip, J. (eds.) Autism - paradigms, recent research and clinical applications. InTech. https://doi.org/10.5772/65409.
Macdonald, H, Rutter, M, Howlin, P, Rios, P, Le Conteur, A, Evered, C & Folstein, S 1989, ‘Recognition and expression of emotional cues by autistic and normal adults’, The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 865-877. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1989.tb00288.x
Ott, D, Moeller, M & Russo, E 2022, ‘Neurodiversity, equity, and inclusion in MNCs’, Academy of International Business Insights. https://doi.org/10.46697/001c.34627.
Patton, E. 2019, ‘Autism, attributions, and accommodations’, Personnel Review, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 915-934. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-04-2018-0116
Roux, A, Shattuck, P, Rast, J, Rava, J & Anderson, K, 2015, National Autism Indicators Report: Transition into Young Adulthood. Available at: https://drexel.edu/autismoutcomes/publications-and-reports/publications/National-Autism-Indicators-Report-Transition-to-Adulthood/.
Russo, E, Ott, DL & Moeller, M 2022, ‘Is there a place for neurodiversity in the talent pool? in Diversity in action. Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 265-285.
Russo, E, Ott, DL & Moeller, M, forthcoming, ‘How organizations can support neurodiversity and reap the rewards of an inclusive workplace’, MIT Sloan Management Review.
Shore, LM, Randel, AE, Chung, BG, Dean, MA, Ehrhart, KH & Singh, G, 2011, ‘Inclusion and diversity in work groups: A review and model for future research’, Journal of Management, vol. 37, pp. 1262-1289. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206310385943
Singer, J 1999, ‘‘Why can’t you be normal for once in your life?’ From a ‘problem with no name’ to the emergence of a new category of difference’, in Corker M & French S (eds.), Disability discourse. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Sumner, KE & Brown, TJ, 2015, ‘Neurodiversity and human resource management: Employer challenges for applicants and employees with learning disabilities’, The Psychologist-Manager Journal, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 77-85. https://doi.org/10.1037/mgr0000031.
The National Autistic Society 2021, ‘New shocking data highlights the autism employment gap’, www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/new-data-on-the-autism-employment-gap.
Von Schrader, S, Malzer, V & Bruyère, S 2014, ‘Perspectives on disability disclosure: The importance of employers practices and workplace climate’, Employee Responsibility and Rights Journal, vol. 26, pp. 237-255.