Workplace readiness program for young people with disavilities using VR

👤 Investigators

• Charmine Hartel - Distinguished Professor & Director Opportunity Tech Lab, Monash Business School, Monash University
• Wei Wang, Research Fellow, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University
• Tanner Person, Research Fellow, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University;

💲 Funding details

• State Trustees Australia Foundation
• AU$20000

🎓 Project summary

Waverley Social Enterprises proposes creating Welcome to Your New Workplace, an engaging Virtual Reality (VR) onboarding module designed to facilitate the transition from school to supported employment for young people with disabilities. In collaboration with Monash University, this project will utilise VR headsets and interactive storytelling to simulate Waverley’s inclusive workplace. It tackles barriers such as sensory overload, anxiety, and unfamiliarity, offering a supportive pre-placement experience. This study aims to co-design, with people with disabilities employed at Waverley Social Enterprises, a virtual reality (VR) module that depicts what it is like to work at Waverley Social Enterprises, and to evaluate the impact of this VR experience on potential clients’ perceptions of Waverley Social Enterprises as a place of employment.

The VR module will be co-designed through structured workshops with people with disabilities currently in supported employment at Waverley Social Enterprises. Co-design activities are intended solely to inform the development of the VR module and will not involve performance assessment or employment-related decision-making.