Redefining Social Constructs: An Exploratory Research on the Integration of Deaf Employees in the Philippine Metropolitan Workforce

In the past, deafness has been entwined with groundless misconceptions from the distorted mentality shaped by social constructionism. Nevertheless, as movements on redefining the society began to materialize, much has been done to improve the status of the Deaf, as demonstrated by workplace inclusion and accommodations. Therefore, the study's primary purpose was to gauge the extent of this leap of social structure by investigating employer attitudes, capacities, struggles, and achievements in the employment of Deaf employees while taking into account the real essence of workplace inclusion. An exploratory study design was conducted with two subframes of participants: the hearing employers and Deaf employees. Recruitment of participants was achieved through purposive sampling, and data was gathered using a mixed-methods approach. Research instruments included Attitudes to Deafness Scale, Basic Need Satisfaction at Work, and Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale. Descriptive and exploratory analyses were used in the interpretation of results. Results showed a significant difference between the employers and the Deaf employees' perspectives, raising an issue on the separation between diversity and inclusion. Despite explicit support and favorable attitudes towards deafness, the Philippines has a long way to be called 'fully inclusive.'