Organizational socialization of employees with disabilities: Critical issues and implications for workplace interventions.

Organizational socialization is the process whereby newcomers to work organizations become insiders. The socialization process has been linked to various outcomes including newcomer job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job knowledge and performance, promotion and advancement rate, salary, and turnover. The purpose of the present paper is threefold: (1) to examine issues facing persons with disabilities during organizational socialization in order to help guide future research on this topic; (2) to provide an awareness of potential aditional barriers (unrealistic newcomer expectations, interaction avoidance, "norm to be kind," low work group expectations) that face newcomers with disabilities as they begin jobs; and (3) to suggest some possible policies, programs, and interventions that might help persons with disabilities to overcome those barriers.