{"id":126570,"date":"2021-05-06T11:52:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T09:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=126570"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:36","slug":"eur-wins-award-for-hiring-people-with-a-disability-for-employment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/05\/06\/eur-wins-award-for-hiring-people-with-a-disability-for-employment\/","title":{"rendered":"EUR wins award for hiring people with a disability for employment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erasmus University Rotterdam was recently presented with the very first \u2018De Bart\u2019. This award was named after Bart de Bart, the founder of Studeren en Werken Op Maat: a foundation that aims to help highly qualified young people with a functional impairment to find suitable employment.<\/p>\n

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A total of 54 people currently work for the university via the Studeren en Werken Op Maat (SWOM) foundation, and EUR intends to increase their number to 100 by the end of 2021. \u201cThat may not seem much when your workforce runs into the thousands,\u201d says former Minister of Disability Issues Rick Brink, who is involved with the foundation. \u201cBut there are loads of companies who have zero employees with a disability. EUR is investing in these colleagues, working towards long-term placement and offering solid support. And no jobs were created specifically for the 54 people who work for the university via our foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seventy percent of the people registered at SWOM actually have an \u2018invisible\u2019 condition like autism; thirty percent have a visible impairment. According to Brink, it isn\u2019t always easy to find a suitable work environment for these young professionals. Indeed, the new award is definitely also intended to \u2018inspire\u2019 other employers to hire colleagues with a disability for employment. He says that a number of companies have already contacted SWOM after its presentation, stating their interest in working together with the foundation.<\/p>\n

\u2018Most inclusive employer\u2019<\/h2>

\u201cWith this award, we wish to move away from bitterness and focus on the positive,\u201d says Brink. And he is more than aware that a lot of companies aren\u2019t particularly diverse or inclusive yet. \u201cJust look at the statistics published every year by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP). We want to show people where it is<\/em> possible. Still, arranging access to employment calls for custom solutions \u2013 because a job that is accessible to you may not be accessible to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The title associated with this new award is \u2018Most Inclusive Employer\u2019. Still, inclusiveness isn\u2019t something EUR is particularly known for. Only a quarter of the professors are women; its workforce is predominantly white and there are relatively few employees with a bicultural background. Nevertheless, the foundation has consciously opted for the rather broad term \u2018inclusive\u2019, says Brink. \u201cThat word has impact. But we\u2019ve only looked at what the university does for people with a functional impairment \u2013 that\u2019s our focus as a foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

Wonderful acknowledgement<\/h2>

Judith Wiskie had the honour of accepting the award on Monday, during a live broadcast on NPO Radio 1. She is the HPR Policy Officer responsible for this programme. \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful acknowledgement of our hard work, and we\u2019ll definitely be forging ahead on this path,\u201d Wiskie said on the occasion. \u201cI\u2019d like to dedicate this award to all the managers involved, and specifically the colleagues with a disability for employment who had the courage to take this step.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a reaction on EUR\u2019s website, Board Member Ellen van Schoten also shared her delight with the recognition: \u201cI\u2019m incredibly proud that we\u2019re the recipients of the first \u2018De Bart\u2019 award. This is a fine acknowledgement and confirms that we\u2019re on the right track. We will continue on this path, so we can recruit even more new talents for our organisation \u2013 because we want to show everyone that inclusiveness really works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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