Can people with disabilities gain from education?

BACKGROUND: More knowledge is needed of occupational attainment of persons with disabilities, i.e. the relationship between their educational level and their profession, and factors of importance for this relationship. OBJECTIVE: To compare occupational attainment among persons with and without a disability. METHOD: 3396 informants with disabilities and 19004 non-disabled informants participated (control group) in a survey study by Statistics Sweden. The informants with disabilities were divided into six groups. RESULTS: Occupational attainment did not differ between the disability groups, neither between persons with and without a disability. Follow-up analysis showed that men with disabilities with primary or secondary school had an occupation above their educational level to a significantly larger extent than women with disabilities. This pattern was even clearer in comparison with the control group. Persons without disabilities, with secondary or higher education, were more successful in the labor market than persons with disabilities. Occupational attainment increased with age in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Young women with disabilities who only have primary or secondary education run a higher risk of having a job that is below their educational level than men at the same educational level. This indicates discriminating mechanisms in the society related to gender and ability.