Challenges to Substantive Inclusion in Organizations: A Phenomenological Study with Deaf People

Objective: in this study, we seek to understand, from a substantive perspective of analysis, the process of inclusion/exclusion of deaf individuals in organizations. Theoretical approach: we introduce the discussion based on the inclusion-exclusion process and the need to listen to what included subjects have to say. As the results (essences) are presented, some important concepts are discussed: deaf culture, identity and ‘deafhood’; social organization; and communicational action. Taking the interactionist perspective as a basis, which highlights communication and intersubjectively shared language, the confrontation between the symbolic universes of the deaf and the hearing is brought into discussion as ultimate challenges to inclusion. Method: we adopted phenomenology as a methodological horizon to analyze the deaf workers’ lived experience in an industrial unit of a multinational company. Results: the study resulted in three essences: (a) work in its ontological dimension, as an opportunity to express the equality of the deaf in relation to the hearing; (b) the need for cultural exchange based on the communicational action between deaf and hearing individuals; and (c) the need for acceptance and belonging to the social organization. Conclusion: we conclude by presenting the inclusion-exclusion process, in which the sharing of meanings, based on sign language, leads to integration into the social organization. Such integration allows for the recognition of work and full participation in organizational processes. The mediating element is communication, which can be a bridge or a barrier to inclusion and is mobilized through affective relationships between deaf and hearing people. From a substantive point of view, being included means, for the deaf person, having a recognized job, in which they can perform not only a task but also engage in a cultural exchange with hearing people, in order to participate in the daily social organization.