Jordanne Semper-Scott | 2025 I.S. Symposium

Name: Jordanne Semper-Scott
Title: Thematic and Textual Analysis of Financial Corporations’ Public Communication of Neurodiversity Hiring Programs and Corporate Initiatives to Hire Neurodivergent Individuals and Advance (Neuro)diversity Inclusion
Major: Communication Studies
Pathway: Digital & Visual Storytelling
Advisor: Zhenyu Tian

In this study, I analyze texts from three financial corporations’ public communication about their neurodiversity hiring programs and neurodivergent inclusion initiatives. I analyzed texts from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Company, and Bank of America Corporation. Extracting theories from stakeholder relationship management theory and corporate social responsibility, I wanted to understand how each corporation communicated their efforts to hire neurodivergent candidates through these specialized hiring programs. The unemployment rate of the neurodivergent population is about 30 to 40%–eight times the rate of individuals without physical or neurologically-based disabilities (3.9%). The neurodiversity movement seeks to change society’s ableist perceptions about individuals with neurological differences as having strengths, instead of deficits. As disability discourse continues to evolve, organizations of various industries strive to replicate the goals of the neurodiversity movement. Corporations are trying to figure out how to leverage individuals’ neurological differences to build trust and relationships between themselves and neurodiverse stakeholders. Using textual and thematic analysis, I analyze how the three financial corporations frame content on their websites and the values attributed to hiring neurodivergent individuals. The findings indicate that all three corporations effectively communicate their efforts to hire neurodivergent individuals. They successfully frame their content that reflects the concerns of the neurodivergent population. However, there needs to be improvement in how they describe neurodiversity and explanation in what types of values they attribute to hiring neurodivergent individuals. These ethical practices can help improve the wellbeing of future neurodivergent employees that will further improve organizational diversity and disability discourse.

Posted in Symposium 2025 on May 1, 2025.