Abstract
The literature is largely silent on how workers with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), or any disability or stigmatising trait, might experience working in teams. It is argued here that working in a team sharpens the likelihood and experience of the stigmatisation process because of uncritical assumptions made in workplaces about the benefits of teams and team processes, combined with managerialist pressures on team members to perform. I theorise a single phenomenological case study: one woman’s lived experience of working in a team as a process of stigmatisation after her diagnosis of MS. It is recommended that workplaces rethink their expectations and approaches to working in teams, especially for those with MS or any other stigmatising trait, to ensure a more comfortable and constructive workplace environment for all, and to reduce the potential for premature departures from work for those stigmatised.
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Vickers, M.H. “For the Crime of Being Different…”:. Employ Respons Rights J 24, 177–195 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-011-9186-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-011-9186-y