I can now be found on LinkedIn which is my main platform at www.linkedin.com/in/drwhitaker

Dr Chris Whitaker I have been voted for an Award at The National Diversity Awards 2025 in association with @itvnews. Please vote for me #NDA25 #Nominate #VotingNowOpen

At a time when there is some pushback on diversity, I’ve been honoured be nominated for a award. I’d appreciate your support, as the number and nature of nominations helps with the quest to get shortlisted. You can vote here. Thanks in advance:

www.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/awards-2025/...

Research update: my Individual Project on disability employment was awarded a mark of 75. The research was recognised for its important analysis.

A I’m immensely grateful to the people who participated in this research.

I’ll be working on getting this research published now…

On disability employment: conventional approaches don’t work for disabled people. I’m working on solutions via Purple Advantage to help with this. You can’t scare people into work. (2/2)

Re disability benefits, I’ve been watching the ongoing discussion with interest and concern. The focus needs to be on supporting disabled people who have extra costs due to the unequal nature of society, not penalising them for this. (1/2)

That was one of the emergent themes yes

If I had one wish..flexibility! As in understanding that people have different needs and can’t always physically get into an office. A planned approach that focuses on everyone’s strengths and how they can be utilised

Happy to share with you that I submitted my disability employment research last night. The Individual Project, ‘Get (disabled) Britain Working: A Critical Analysis’ will now be assessed. The research makes an important contribution to the evidence base by including the views of disabled people themselves. Disabled people are so often talked about in relation to employment, and yet their voices are rarely heard. The headline findings are that: -Conventional approaches to employment don’t work for disabled people, who continue to experience high levels of discrimination and lack of opportunity. 71% of the 124 people who completed the survey said that they had experienced discrimination. -To close the disability employment gap, more flexible, person centred approaches to employment are needed.

Research update!

Thank you for your patience during this short radio silence. I’m in the final stages of my disability employment work and I think (hope!) it’s coming together well 😊

A library trolly with books in Cambridge light blue

Love is…when your wife understands how much you love books and gets you a trolly to compliment your office library 😊

I’m really surprised that there has not been more scrutiny of her ties to the pro AD/AS lobby

Was always going to be way. Leadbetter is dangerously unaware of what she is doing.

Research update: I’ve had my head down in my results as a full draft of my entire thesis is due on Monday. The results are telling, seeking to make a novel contribution to discussion to existing scholarship on disability employment. I’m hopeful that this will be the case and that publication follows

I’m really hoping I can make an important contribution here having actually asked disabled people about their experiences of employment.

@drbevans.bsky.social hello professor! May I message you with a small request please?

Deep into my data analysis of disability employment. The data, whilst not without limitations, suggests the need for greater flexibility. Interestingly, also emerging is that a focus less on physical presence may allow disabled people to be more present in the workforce.

Yes it is, and I shall. If I can do anything, you know where I am 😊

Thank you-I really appreciate you reaching out - nice to know is not just me!😊

Completely agree about everything you’ve just said. Probably sounds odd but the nearest rough equivalent I can conjure is a) survivors guilt and b) a profound sense of responsibility to help make the situation better

Thank you. I am engaging with my supervisor who is brilliant. In a positive way it just increases my determination to offer solutions. But yes. Oooft.

Agreed! I have some thoughts on this

This data is awfully powerful and it moves me. Time and time and time again the story is coming out that the world isn't, won't, or can't be accessible. The abudance of medical model stuff in here is beyond what I expected. In a different version of this i'd like to be more conceptually sophisticated and my commitment to this data is such that I will go back and pick out the nuances. At the moment I just want to scream that it is society is the issue and unless we get serious about genuinely making society a more inclusive safe and accepting place then further change is unlikely.

Doing my data analysis..and this data. This is a snippet from a coding memo..

Research update: A huge thank you to everyone who has supported with this to complete and spread the word. We’ve achieved 123 responses with 100 of those from the UK. I’ll close the survey next Tuesday to allow any further responses to come through. It’s a good sample size.

Picture shows my cat curling up against the laptop. Her paws resting on this in a closed position as if to stop me opening the laptop up

“No”, says the cat, with an air of defiance. “I will not allow you to work on your thesis on a Friday evening…”

Ah thank you- we’ll definitely have to have a cuppa. I would also love to explore scope for collaboration and if you ever need a guest lecturer…!😊

@antoniosktenidis.bsky.social thank you 😊

Thank you so much! I have 115 responses, over 90 from the UK so happy with this. I’ll close it in a few days as this number (thanks to people like yourself!) compares well to prior studies

Hello! I’m making a final call for my ongoing research into disability employment. I’m looking at the experiences of disabled people seeking work in the UK.

If you could complete the survey or know someone who may, it’s here:

cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bD…

Thank you.

Thank you 😊

Chris in his doctor of letters gown. Wearing a black bonnet with a gold tassel. A hood of red and gold and a gown of red and green. Chris is wearing a green suit with a university tie on. He is smiling.

What a day! Superbly looked after by @sheffielduni.bsky.social from start to finish at an emotional ceremony as I was delighted to receive my honorary Doctor of Letters degree. Thank you to everyone involved and congratulations to all the new Sheffield graduates this week.