Beyond the Hire: Why Disability Inclusion Must Be Measured in Careers, Not Just Jobs 

Reflections from the inaugural Disability Inclusive Employment Summit, Nairobi, Kenya, 29-30 October 2026 

The real test of an inclusive workplace is not simply who gets through the door, but who gets the opportunity to grow, advance and lead. There is a fundamental question missing from many conversations about disability-inclusive employment: What happens after someone gets the job? 

We have become increasingly comfortable discussing recruitment targets, accessibility, reasonable accommodation and the responsibility of employers to create inclusive workplaces. These are necessary conversations, particularly in African economies where systemic barriers continue to exclude talented individuals from meaningful employment. 

But there is a risk in allowing the conversation to end at recruitment. 

An organisation may successfully employ persons with disabilities and still fail to provide meaningful opportunities for professional development. An employee may have a job, receive a salary and appear in an organisation’s diversity statistics, yet remain excluded from the networks, experiences and decisions that shape career advancement. 

We must ask, “Are we creating employment opportunities or creating the conditions for people to build careers.” 

Key Takeaways

• Compliance, while necessary, is not synonymous with inclusion. 
• Representation tells us who is in the room. Progression tells us what happens once they are there. 
• Employment is not charity. It is a professional relationship grounded in capability, contribution, fair compensation and mutual expectations. 
• Disability inclusion should not mean lowering expectations. It should mean ensuring that employees have equitable opportunities and the necessary support to meet them. 
• The true measure of inclusion is not only whether someone was given an opportunity to begin, but whether they have a fair opportunity to go further. 

The Numbers Game 

Employment targets play an important role. They establish expectations, encourage accountability and compel institutions to confront patterns of exclusion. Compliance, while necessary, is not synonymous with inclusion. An employer can meet a recruitment target without changing how talent is recognised, developed or rewarded. A workplace can become more accessible without necessarily becoming more equitable. 

If our indicators focus primarily on recruitment, we overlook equally important questions: Who remains employed? Who receives meaningful performance feedback? Who accesses professional development? Who earns competitive salaries? And who eventually moves into leadership? Representation tells us who is in the room. Progression tells us what happens once they are there. 

The Quiet Barriers to Career Progression 

Career advancement rarely happens through qualifications and performance alone. Most of us can identify moments when someone opened a professional door: a manager who recognised our potential, a mentor who offered guidance, or a challenging assignment that allowed us to demonstrate our capabilities. These opportunities are not always distributed equitably. 

For employees with disabilities, barriers to progression can be less visible than those encountered during recruitment. They may emerge through assumptions about capability, inaccessible development programmes or managers making decisions about opportunities without involving the employee. 

Sometimes exclusion takes the form of a seemingly considerate decision. A manager may hesitate to recommend an employee for a leadership role because it involves travel or additional pressure. 

The intention may be protective, but the consequence can be restrictive. There is an important difference between supporting an employee to navigate a role’s demands and deciding, on their behalf, which opportunities are appropriate. The first expands agency. The second can quietly diminish it. 

Evolving From Compliance to Meaningful Careers 

Questions like these were central to the inaugural Disability Inclusive Employment Summit, held in Nairobi on 29 – 30 October 2026, under the theme Breaking Systemic Barriers to Meaningful Employment for Persons with Disabilities. 

The summit examined the employment journey from skills development and accessible recruitment to workplace accommodation, retention and career progression. In facilitating the breakout session Careers, Not Just Jobs: Helping Employees Grow at Work, we explored a question that deserves greater attention: What does meaningful inclusion look like after recruitment? 

The session’s focus on the various career stages that impact the overall experience, from onboarding and support culture to performance feedback, training and mentoring, fair pay, promotion and advancing into leadership highlighted how many dimensions of employment influence an individual’s ability to build a sustainable career. It also challenged a persistent narrative that frames employing persons with disabilities primarily as an act of generosity. Employment is not charity. It is a professional relationship grounded in capability, contribution, fair compensation and mutual expectations. 

Disability inclusion should not mean lowering expectations. It should mean ensuring that employees have equitable opportunities and the necessary support to meet them. 

Young Leaders at the Summit 

A particularly meaningful aspect of the inaugural Disability Inclusive Employment Summit was the participation of our young leaders, Mastercard Foundation Scholars and alumni, including those from the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at USIU Kenya. We were especially proud of the alumni Hezborn Muiru Wangari and Arnold Ekaka, who contributed to the panel discussions, sharing their perspectives and lived experiences of navigating education, employment and the pursuit of meaningful careers. Their voices brought depth and authenticity to conversations about accessibility, equitable opportunities and the importance of ensuring that persons with disabilities can not only access employment but also thrive and progress professionally. 

Our sincere appreciation goes to Dolly Mwiti and Lilian Makinia for facilitating the attendance and meaningful engagement of these young leaders. Their contributions were an important reminder that conversations about disability-inclusive employment must not only center on young people with disabilities but actively include their voices in shaping the solutions and opportunities that affect their futures. 

A More Ambitious Measure of Inclusion 

The next frontier of disability-inclusive employment must be accountability for career outcomes, not simply hiring numbers. Employers should be able to examine retention, pay equity, access to development, promotion decisions and leadership representation, while respecting employee privacy and voluntary disclosure. They must also recognise that inclusion is not solely the responsibility of human resources or diversity teams. It is shaped daily by managers who allocate opportunities, evaluate performance and recognise potential. 

 Ultimately, career success does not mean the same thing to everyone. For some, it is leadership. For others, deeper expertise, greater autonomy or meaningful professional growth. What matters is that these possibilities remain open. 

A job can provide an entry point to economic participation. A career offers the possibility of growth, influence, financial security and self-determination.  

If we are serious about disability-inclusive employment, our ambition must encompass both. The true measure of inclusion is not only whether someone was given an opportunity to begin, but whether they have a fair opportunity to go further. 

Special thanks to Frederic Ouko, Mercy Akumu, Lemmyson Mwamutu and the entire Riziki Source team for putting together an outstanding forum to host this discussion.  

Frequently Asked Questions 

Why must disability inclusion be measured beyond hiring? 

Hiring shows who gets through the door, not who gets the opportunity to grow, advance and lead. An organisation may successfully employ persons with disabilities and still exclude them from the networks, experiences and decisions that shape career advancement, so inclusion must be measured in careers, not just jobs. 

What is the difference between a job and a career for employees with disabilities? 

A job can provide an entry point to economic participation. A career offers the possibility of growth, influence, financial security and self-determination. Career success does not mean the same thing to everyone: for some it is leadership, for others deeper expertise, greater autonomy or meaningful professional growth. 

What are the hidden barriers to career progression for employees with disabilities? 

Barriers to progression can be less visible than those encountered during recruitment. They may emerge through assumptions about capability, inaccessible development programmes or managers making decisions about opportunities without involving the employee. 

How can well-intentioned decisions limit an employee’s career? 

A manager may hesitate to recommend an employee for a leadership role because it involves travel or additional pressure. The intention may be protective, but the consequence can be restrictive. Supporting an employee to navigate a role’s demands expands agency, while deciding on their behalf which opportunities are appropriate can quietly diminish it. 

Does disability inclusion mean lowering expectations? 

No. Disability inclusion should mean ensuring that employees have equitable opportunities and the necessary support to meet expectations, not lowering them. 

Who is responsible for disability inclusion in an organisation? 

Inclusion is not solely the responsibility of human resources or diversity teams. It is shaped daily by managers who allocate opportunities, evaluate performance and recognise potential.