This paper outlines the changing employment climate and shift in attitudes towards disabled people who are expected to become economically active in order to fulfil their role as responsible citizens. We briefly describe the employment profile of disabled people and reiterate the combination of factors identified in shaping progression into the workforce. We provide a summary of two research projects, the Disability Effective Inclusive Policies (DEIP) funded by European Social Fund with a clear connection to EU equity and employability agenda, and the Lancashire Aimhigher Disability (LAD) project designed to support the government's aim of widening participation. We discuss aspects of the transition process, drawing explicitly on interviews with disabled people, policy makers and practitioners involved in developing or implementing policy and providing support services designed to aid the transition process. We conclude that there is a continuing need for a focus on the concept of transition in policy and practice.
Contribution to special issue on school to work transitions written in conjunction with Linda Piggott. Houghton's role was in overall direction of the research undertaken by Sussex and Lancaster staff in the Disability Effective Inclusive Policies (DEIP) project funded by HE ESF. This article drew on Houghton's earlier conference submissions at SCUTREA 2005 and 2006, the latter of which resulted in an invitation and funding from Canadian colleagues to present findings to the University of Alberta Work and Learning network http://www.wln.ualberta.ca/events.htm and discussion about future contribution as consultant to Canadian research on the transition and learning of disabled people and colleagues in the workplace. Both projects that informed the journal drew on social model of disability and included EU, national and institutional policy analysis, with DEIP producing 12 research discussion papers http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/reap/projects/deip.htm that resulted in invitation to present at Action on Access Embedding Disability Conference September 2007. RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : Education