Role of self-advocacy, academic accommodation, and attitude in career readiness among students with learning disabilities: a social cognitive perspective

BACKGROUND: Higher education is the terminal stage for preparing career aspirants. Its responsibility becomes more crucial for students with learning disabilities (SWLDs). Extending implications of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), the current study investigates the contribution of SWLDs’ self-advocacy to their career readiness with the mediating role of their academic accommodation and the moderating role of faculty’s attitude towards their career readiness. METHOD: The research design of the current study was a descriptive survey with cross-sectional data collection. The participants were 326 SWLDs. They were selected using a multi-stage and multi-method sampling approach from 12 top QS-ranked universities in Pakistan. The data were collected online using a self-developed questionnaire, “Empowering Students with Learning Disabilities Scale (ESLDS)”. It was analyzed using jamovi software. Pearson correlation, simple linear regression, mediation, and moderation analysis were deployed to test hypotheses. RESULTS: The analysis showed that SWLDs’ self-advocacy (B1 = 0.409, SE = 0.04, t[324] = 9.99, p < .001, R = .49, R2 = 0.24) significantly contributes to their career readiness of SWLDs. Their academic accommodation (B = 0.233, SE = 0.04, 95% CI [0.165, 0.306], Z = 6.54, p < .001) significantly mediated the relationship between self-advocacy and career readiness. Although faculty attitudes individually contributed, the moderation effect (SA×FA) was (B = 0.081, SE = 0.05, 95% CI [-0.008, 0.176], Z = 1.72, p = .085) statistically insignificant for the relationship between self-advocacy and career readiness. CONCLUSION: In this study, the researchers addressed the knowledge gap on the interplay of constructs such as self-advocacy, academic accommodations, faculty attitudes, and career readiness. This study highlights the importance of developing a supportive environment for SWLDs to address their challenges related to success in academic and professional lives. It had several implications for theory, practice, and research.