Stuttering and work life: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

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Highlights

  • Authors review what is known about the impact of stuttering on work and employment.

  • This is the first qualitative study using the IPA method to focus on the workplace experiences of people who stutter.

  • Research questions examine what it's like to be a PWS at work.

  • Self-stigma is highlighted as a driving issue that can frame work life and create barriers to goal attainment and occupational progression.

Abstract

Purpose

The experiential claims of nine people who stuttered were examined with the purpose of determining the impact of stuttering on their work lives and to further examine what meaning they derive from these experiences.

Method

Six male and three female participants aged 29-61 years (mean age, 41.4) who stuttered were interviewed and verbatim interview transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Credibility was established by way of member checking, researcher comparison with only consensual themes and interpretations presented in the final analysis.

Results

Four Superordinate themes, “stuttering is always there; stuttering at work reveals a problem; stuttering limits communication; and stuttering limits occupational progression” were distilled by descriptive and interpretative treatment of the interview transcripts. The interpretative level of analysis identified self-stigma as central to the meaning derived from these experiences. Participants’ expectation of stigmatizing public attitudes, together with their own self-validation of such attitudes perpetuated diminished feelings about self-esteem and self-efficacy. Fear of negative evaluation may be heightened in the work context and might mediate feelings of self-stigma in this context.

Conclusions

Superordinate themes and their subthemes indicate that stuttering is problematic at work by way of perpetuating in the PWS an expectation of negative evaluation by others. Findings implicate issues of self-stigma as generating feelings of self-doubt and self-reproach in PWS in the workplace. The development and effects of self-stigma in PWS have broader implications than the workplace context alone and further examination of the issues of self-stigma in stuttering is recommended.

Educational objectives: At the end of this activity the reader will be able to: (a) describe how stuttering might affect workplace experiences; (b) describe the impact of stuttering on communication in the work context; (c) describe how qualitative methods can provide insights into the impact of stuttering in the work context; (d) describe the impact of self and public stigma on wellbeing in the work context.

Section snippets

Background

In adulthood work life can be central to economic and personal life satisfaction. Work has direct financial implications and is an opportunity to accrue psychosocial benefits. These benefits might include a sense of self-efficacy, satisfaction in goal attainment, recognition of talents and skills, and an overall sense of self-agency as one progresses along a career path (Lent and Brown, 2006, Russell, 2008). Work for some people also provides social interaction, friendship and a sense of

Method

The study was approved by the Human Ethics Research Committee of the University of Sydney (Ref. No. 12912).

Results

Table 2 outlines the four Superordinate themes and their subthemes that were revealed by thematic analysis and were common to all participants. The description and identification of the Superordinate themes enabled the analysis to move to the interpretative level and determine what meaning participants derived from their stuttering experiences in the workplace. Individual interpretations of workplace experiences are presented in this section and broader interpretations across all the themes by

Discussion

Participants’ interpretations of their experiences were included in the above thematic analysis. However, in IPA researchers also engage at an interpretative level across the themes and participants. For most people performance at work is important and work represents a context where people want to appear unflawed, physically and emotionally (Sheane, 2012). The feeling of being under pressure in the work context was expressed by participants and for most this meant trying to reduce, hide or

Conclusions

The research questions in this study addressed how people who stutter experienced the impact of stuttering on their work life and how they made sense of their experiences or what meaning they derived from their experiences. Participant responses showed that stuttering may have substantial impact because it limited their communication, thereby preventing them from demonstrating their proficiencies maximally. Most workplaces expect communication abilities for ordinary tasks such as answering and

CONTINUING EDUCATION


Stuttering and work life: An interpretative phenomenological analysis
QUESTIONS

  • 1.

    Research investigating workplace experiences of people who stutter suggest:

    • a)

      Stuttering has little effect on communication in the workplace.

    • b)

      People who stutter are generally less inclined to participate in executive positions.

    • c)

      Employer's responses to research surveys show that they resist employing PWS.

    • d)

      People who stutter perceive that they will have difficulty achieving promotion.

    • e)

      People who stutter seek menial occupations.

Geraldine Bricker-Katz is a senior lecturer, speech pathologist/researcher at the Australian Catholic University, Sydney. Her research in stuttering is currently focused on how the experience impacts functioning and health over the lifespan.

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  • Cited by (0)

    Geraldine Bricker-Katz is a senior lecturer, speech pathologist/researcher at the Australian Catholic University, Sydney. Her research in stuttering is currently focused on how the experience impacts functioning and health over the lifespan.

    Michelle Lincoln is Professor and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney. Michelle teaches, writes and researches in the areas of stuttering, clinical education and the allied health workforce. Her current areas of research within stuttering are treatment efficacy, early intervention, bilingualism, the impact of stuttering in the workplace and ageing and stuttering.

    Steven Cumming Steven is a psychologist with specialist teaching focus in counselling, psychotherapy and cognitive neuropsychology. He is Head of the Discipline of Speech Pathology at the University of Sydney and his research interests include investigating depression, anxiety and stress in disorders such as stuttering.

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