A systematic review of autism in the workplace: Taking a holistic perspective on the Autistic employee life cycle

Abstract

Extant research on autism at work remains scattered across areas of study, including organizational psychology, disability studies, and management, suggesting the need to systematically organize the body of knowledge. In this systematic review, I explore the small, yet growing body of literature focused on autism at work and integrate research across multiple disparate disciplines to understand the state of Level 1 autism research relevant to the workplace. The findings outline the employee life cycle as it relates to Autistic workers, where the research largely focuses on challenges with little research examining strengths and identifies specific gaps in our knowledge of the Autistic employee life cycle. Suggestions for future research center on taking a holistic perspective of both strengths and challenges of autism, in line with recommendations by the Autistic scholarly community; exploring intersectional experiences of Autistic workers; and examining understudied phases of the Autistic employee life cycle. By examining autism from a holistic, nuanced perspective, scholars can shift the types of questions they ask from focusing on either mitigating weaknesses or emphasizing strengths to embracing broad experiences and thereby work to promote Autistic flourishing.