title: Can people with disabilities gain from education? Similarities and differences between occupational attainment among persons with and without disabilities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  More knowledge is needed of occupational attainment of persons with disabilities, i.e., the relationship between their educational level and their profession, and factors of importance for this relationship.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare occupational attainment among persons with and without a disability.
  
  
  METHODS
  3396 informants with disabilities and 19,004 non-disabled informants participated (control group) in a survey study by Statistics Sweden.The informants with disabilities were divided into six groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Occupational attainment did not differ between the disability groups, neither between persons with and without a disability. Follow-up analysis showed that men with disabilities with primary or secondary school had an occupation above their educational level to a significantly larger extent than women with disabilities. This pattern was even clearer in comparison with the control group. Persons without disabilities, with secondary or higher education, were more successful in the labor market than persons with disabilities. Occupational attainment increased with age in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Young women with disabilities who only have primary or secondary education run a higher risk of having a job that is below their educational level than men at the same educational level. This indicates discriminating mechanisms in the society related to gender and ability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work and Psychology, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boman
authors.affiliation: Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kjellberg
authors.affiliation: Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Berth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Danermark
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work and Psychology, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden
keywords: Discrimination; education level; occupationalattainment; self-estimated work ability