Autistic students who make it through college face a bigger challenge: getting jobs

“PHILADELPHIA — The college gym is packed with employers offering work opportunities, but Jimmy Myers, a freshman at Drexel University, has come to the career fair to speak with just one of them: the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. A self-described “train nerd,” Myers has been closely tracking progress on the railway’s trolley modernization project . And he’s eager to share his expertise with the SEPTA recruiter. But the recruiter is late, so Myers paces the crowded, noisy gym, checking the time on his Swiss Railways watch — a wrist-sized replica of the clocks in Swiss train stations. For a few minutes, he waits at a table that Drexel’s Center for Autism and Neurodiversity has set up in a back corner of the gym as a haven from the sensory overload. Today’s college graduates are entering one of the tightest job markets in years, as companies scale back entry-level hiring amid economic uncertainty and the explosion of artificial intelligence. Just under a third of 2025 graduates — and fewer than half of 2024 graduates — have found full-time employment related to their education, according to one recent report. The market is even tougher for young adults with autism, who have long had one of the highest rates of joblessness among individuals with disabilities. Even before the hiring slowdown, more than 30 percent of autistic college graduates were unemployed, and about a quarter of those who did have jobs were in office- and administration-support roles, one study found. Jimmy Myers, a freshman studying mechanical engineering at Drexel University describes himself as a “train nerd.” To help autistic students like Myers land jobs, Drexel and other colleges are offering career-readiness classes and one-on-one career coaching. Credit: Hannah Beier for The Hechinger Report One key reason: Autistic students often have trouble navigating traditional hiring processes, including interviews, which favor neurotypical candidates. To help autistic students like Myers land jobs, some colleges are offering career-readiness classes and one-on-one career coaching; some are also working with employers to make their hiring and employment practices more inclusive. Drexel, which began providing career prep to students in its autism support program in 2017, has one of the oldest programs. Some major corporations have also stepped up, forming partnerships with colleges to recruit neurodivergent students for internships and jobs. Lee Burdette Williams, executive director of the College Autism Network, a membership organization focused on serving neurodiverse college students, says some of the growth in university programs is due to pressure from parents, “who want to see bang for their buck.” Colleges are also under pressure from state and federal policymakers, who have begun linking funding to labor market outcomes. Related: Interested in more news about colleges and universities? Subscribe to our free biweekly higher education newsletter . Still, only around 150 colleges — out of close to 4,000 degree-granting institutions in the U.S. — have autism support programs, according to the Network’s database, and only a subset of them provide job preparation. It’s difficult to say how many students with autism are enrolled in college, in part because many students choose not to disclose their diagnosis to campus disability services — a prerequisite to receiving accommodations. The best estimate is that there are somewhere between 135,400 and 286,254 autistic college students, according to research by Bradley E. Cox, founder of the College Autism Network and an associate professor of higher, adult and lifelong education at Michigan State University. Autism spectrum disorder encompasses a range of symptoms and severities and manifests in highly individualized ways — a popular saying among autism advocates is, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Jimmy Myers, a freshman interested in pursuing a career in transportation, scans a QR code at the Spring Career Fair at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Credit: Hannah Beier for The Hechinger Report While roughly a third of autistic youth also have an intellectual disability, most autistic college students have average or above-average IQs, experts say, and might once have been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a condition now subsumed under autism spectrum disorder. But many have social and emotional challenges, such as heightened, or suppressed , sensory systems, anxiety and difficulty with executive functioning skills like time management, organizing, planning and emotional regulation, which can make the college journey harder. Those who persist to graduation have proven that they are not only capable, but also resilient, advocates say. And some common traits — an attention to detail, an ability to pick out patterns others might miss, and unconventional ways of approaching problems — can make autistic people valuable employees. “I can generate connections that others might not see and come up with cool and interesting ways to solve a task,” said Eli Werbach, a fifth-year engineering technology major at Drexel who is autistic. Tyler Murphy, a sophomore at Drexel studying animation and visual effects, says he views his autism as his superpower. “If I find something I like, I’m able to hyperfocus and learn every bit of knowledge about it and apply it to the tasks,” Murphy said. Related: Hundreds of thousands of students are entitled to training and help finding jobs. They don’t get it Recognizing these strengths, some major companies — including tech giants SAP and Microsoft, and financial institutions Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase — began building neurodiverse hiring programs roughly a decade ago. Those efforts have yielded significant revenue for companies, some of them say, with EY, one of the big four accounting firms, reporting in 2023 that its neurodiverse employees have generated nearly $1 billion in business value. A study by J.P. Morgan Chase found that its autistic employees were much more productive than its neurotypical ones. Consumer finance company Synchrony, which plans to hire 15 neurodivergent interns this year, says the program has changed how teams work across the company. “People get more thoughtful about how they communicate, set expectations, onboard and give feedback,” said Joshua Crafford, vice president of technology learning and development. “It also helps managers and peers support different working styles.” But even as employers have become more willing — even eager — to hire graduates on the autism spectrum, their hiring practices continue to shut many qualified candidates out. The biggest barrier is the interview process, according to Zoe Gross, director of advocacy for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. She says that, on a subconscious level, recruiters prefer candidates who make regular eye contact, laugh at their jokes and mirror their body language — behaviors that don’t always come naturally to autistic people. Drexel, which began providing career prep to students in its autism support program in 2017, has one of the oldest such programs. Credit: Hannah Beier for The Hechinger Report “Without realizing it, employers are putting a lot of weight on the social competence of the person, rather than whether they’re qualified for the job,” Gross said. They’re hiring “based on vibes.” The process can also penalize autistic candidates for their tendency to take things literally and answer questions honestly, Gross said. For example, if an employer asks, “What is your greatest weakness?” an autistic person might honestly respond, “I struggle with time management” — without pivoting to explain how they manage that challenge. AI-enabled interviews and pre-screens can further disadvantage autistic job candidates, disqualifying them based on their vocal cadence, lack of eye contact or “stimming” behavior (repetitive movements or sounds), according to Amy Edwards, director of Drexel’s Center for Autism and Neurodiversity. Related: Autism, dyslexia, AHDH: How colleges are helping neurodivergent students succeed And AI tools can make it harder for autistic individuals to even get an interview. One study found that AI-enabled resume screeners ranked resumes lower if they included disability-related awards or memberships. That said, the AI era has also brought some benefits for autistic job candidates, Gross said. With the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT, more companies are asking candidates to perform job-related tasks during an interview, to prove they’re not using AI for their work. Such skills-based hiring puts more focus on what a candidate can do, and less on how well they “click” with an interviewer, she says. To prepare autistic students for the interview process, colleges like Drexel and Rowan University, across the river from Philadelphia in New Jersey, often conduct mock interviews. On a recent weekday, Chiara Latimer, director of Rowan’s Center for Neurodiversity, sat down with Anthony Ung, a graduate student in computer science who was preparing for an interview with a major defense contractor. When Ung becomes nervous or overstimulated, he often walks to calm himself down. But in a virtual interview, he’ll need to stay seated, so they’re trying other tactics. In their last meeting, Ung had been speaking too fast. This time, Latimer handed Ung a selection of “grounding stickers” he might use to remind himself to speak more slowly. He chose a pink heart with a reminder to “breathe in, breathe out.” Latimer then launched into a series of common interview questions, starting with the classic: “Tell me about a time you worked on a team to achieve a goal, and what was the outcome?” Ung responded with a detailed but succinct story about a time he worked as team leader on a class project building a web application for a medical setting. The outcome, he said, was that “the instructor was impressed.” Latimer praised his progress, saying he seemed to be getting more comfortable discussing specifics. While she talked, he fidgeted with a seven-layer Rubik’s Cube and toggled rapidly between webpages and email. They reviewed several more interview questions, with Latimer helping Ung comb through his experiences for good examples. When they finished, she asked how he was feeling. “I’m feeling a bit more at ease,” Ung said. Latimer asked if the heart helped. “Not particularly,” he answered honestly. “When I’m anxious, I normally type randomly on my keyboard. But I can just type three fingers at the bottom of the laptop.” “Be careful,” Latimer warned. “You don’t want them to think you’re using ChatGPT.” Latimer suggested he find a quiet material that he can position to the side of his laptop and use to tap his fingers quietly there. They agreed and made plans to meet again the following day. Related: Eligible but got nothing: Hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities blocked from college aid When Rowan started its Autism PATH — Preparation and Achievement in the Transition to Hire — seven years ago, only 40 percent of participants found work within a few months of graduating. Now, with most students spending four years getting academic and career coaching in the program, that rate has climbed to 66 percent, Latimer says. At Drexel, where all undergraduates spend five years alternating between classes and full-time jobs, known as co-ops, the co-op placement rate for students who receive support through the Center for Autism and Neurodiversity is in the mid-90s, according to Peg Monaghan, the center’s associate director. While some programs will teach students interview survival strategies — such as how to fake eye contact by looking between an interviewers’ eyes or into a computer camera — Monaghan says she doesn’t tell students they must act neurotypical in interviews to get hired. She believes it’s better to be authentic than to surprise an employer on Day 1. “They need to be themselves,” she said. Along with reviewing resumes and conducting mock interviews, college autism support programs help students weigh the pros and cons of disclosing their diagnosis to a prospective employer. Both options carry risks. Candidates who disclose may be viewed differently by employers or be subject to discrimination, says Amy Hurley-Hanson, co-editor of the book “Generation A: Research on Autism in the Workplace”; those who don’t may face criticism if a problem arises in the workplace and they bring it up then. Hiding one’s autistic traits — known as “masking” — can also take an emotional toll, leading to depression and anxiety, Gross of the self-advocacy network says. Monaghan says she advises students to wait until they have an offer in hand to formally disclose their autism, if they want to. Murphy, who just finished his first co-op, says he chose to be candid with his employer. “Autism is a strength of mine, so why would I put it away in a box?” he asked. Werbach, the Drexel senior, has varied his approach. When he interviewed for his first co-op placement, he mentioned that he has trouble reading social cues. The second time around, he didn’t disclose until later, when he had a minor conflict with a co-worker. By his third co-op, he’d decided against disclosure. “They could probably tell I think differently, but I didn’t tell them,” he said. Eli Werbach, a fifth-year engineering student at Drexel University, says autism can be an asset in the workplace. Credit: Hannah Beier for The Hechinger Report Back at the career fair, the recruiter finally arrived. Myers rushed over to greet her and helped her spread a navy blue tablecloth across her station, complimenting the SEPTA button she was wearing (“the best transit logo”) and the train sticker on her laptop. He then proceeded to pepper her with questions about Philadelphia’s trolley modernization project. “When are the new trains going to enter service? Will they redesign the stations to accommodate them? Are there plans to separate car traffic from trolley traffic? Will they keep the legacy trains?” “You are ahead of the game!” the recruiter exclaimed, seemingly impressed by his knowledge of the project. When Myers asked a question she couldn’t answer, she offered to get him a meeting with the chief of planning, “so you can ask your question directly.” When the conversation was over, Myers returned to the Center for Autism and Neurodiversity’s table and said the exchange gave him hope. “If I can demonstrate my expertise like I just did, I think I can get a co-op,” he said. Contact editor Lawrie Mifflin at 212-678-4078 or mifflin@hechingerreport.org. This story about autistic college graduates was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter . The post Autistic students who make it through college face a bigger challenge: getting jobs appeared first on The Hechinger Report .

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