Inclusion on DAX 40 Career Pages: Poor Representation of People with Disabilities

In a study of the career pages of the Dax 40 companies, the Berlin-based employer branding agency Mashup Communications evaluated the presentation of inclusion and people with disabilities. Of the 40 companies, 25 are committed to inclusion as a core value. Of these 25 companies, however, only 13 also visually show people with disabilities on their careers pages. A total of 17 out of 40 companies depict people with visible disabilities, with four companies using images of people with disabilities but not explicitly committing to inclusion.

Image Analysis: Low Presence of People with Disabilities

The analysis of 3,940 images revealed that only 0.84 percent of them showed people with disabilities. The most frequently used motif is the wheelchair (90 percent), followed by depictions of deafness (three percent) and other impairments such as Down’s syndrome, autism and visual impairment.

Focus on Authenticity: Positive Examples

Positive examples of authentic representations are Adidas and RWE, which support employees with disabilities and show both individuals and groups. However, none of the companies show managers with disabilities. The study emphasizes the importance of authentic images and encourages companies to show empathy and consideration towards minorities and to tell concrete stories of those affected.

Read the full article by Mashup Communications on Personalwirtschaft