Enabling people with IDDs to live a “Normal” life: an exploration of the determinants of social entrepreneurship intention

Abstract

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) pose a great and challenging social problem, particularly because they are the least employable by traditional organizations. Regarded as “the disabled of the disabled,” the matter of employment, education, societal perception, and participation has for people with IDDs been an issue that has plagued many economies. As obvious a problem as this is, only a handful of cases exist where these group of individuals enjoy gainful employment with dignified treatments.
Inspired by one such case of a car-washing centre run by people with IDDs in China, this research employs a mixed methods approach of semi-structured interviews and surveys to explore planned behaviours towards people with IDDs in Nigeria, possibility in whole African continent, including the setting up of a social enterprise or self-sustained employment, as well as the determinants affecting the decisions of these behaviours. The findings from the research hope to enrich both planned behaviour and disability literature, while providing insights to the normative behaviours or intentions in Nigeria regarding people with IDDs where the topic is a less studied context. These findings also aim to yield practical implications that can potentially be replicated across many of the 54 countries in African continent that include but not limited to fostering social inclusivity, combating disparity and employment issues.

Date of Award	Jul 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Nottingham
Supervisor	Pingping Fu (Supervisor), Lei Li (Supervisor) & Alim Beveridge (Supervisor)