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Going through the back door: Chronically ill academics’ experiences as ‘unexpected workers’

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Abstract

Framed around the notion that chronically ill academics are unexpected workers in an able-bodied work environment, we draw on 35 interviews with Canadian academics with multiple sclerosis (MS) to explore their experiences of seeking accommodation. This analysis draws on and extends Goffman's (1959, 1963) theoretical concepts of ‘frontstage’ and ‘backstage’ performances and ‘stigma’ to show that getting accommodation needs met is not a straightforward process for many academics with MS. We find that seeking accommodations is highly dependent on whether or not one has disclosed having MS to others, and what institutional supports exist to assist disabled faculty members. We draw on the metaphor of ‘going through the back door’ to make sense of this finding. This analysis advances understanding of how chronically ill employees within a particular organizational culture do (or do not) get their needs accommodated, thereby adding to knowledge on chronic illness and disability accommodation in the workplace. It also sheds new light onto how the backdoor metaphor can be applied to understanding lived experiences of disability and chronic illness.

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Notes

  1. These statistics are based on the results of a survey we conducted (Crooks et al, 2011b). Interestingly, we also found that access to accommodations varied according to institutional size, with small institutions (fewer than 500 faculty members) being the least likely to have written policies and very unlikely to have an office dedicated to providing accommodations for faculty. We also found that large institutions (more than 1500 faculty members) were the most likely to not only have written policies but also an office dedicated to helping faculty needing accommodations.

  2. Goffman did not use the contemporary terms of impairment and able-bodied.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Standard Research Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, P7B 5E1, ON, Canada

    Sharon-Dale Stone

  2. Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, V5A 1S6, BC, Canada

    Valorie A Crooks

  3. Department of Sociology, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, R3B 2E9, MB, Canada

    Michelle Owen

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  1. Sharon-Dale Stone
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  2. Valorie A Crooks
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  3. Michelle Owen
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Correspondence to Sharon-Dale Stone.

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Stone, SD., Crooks, V. & Owen, M. Going through the back door: Chronically ill academics’ experiences as ‘unexpected workers’. Soc Theory Health 11, 151–174 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2013.1

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