“My name on the door by the Professor's name”: The process of recruiting a researcher with a learning disability at a UK university

The advantages of including people with learning disabilities in research teams have been well described, but it is rare for researchers with learning disabilities to be employed at a university. This paper explores how university recruitment procedures are accessible to job applicants with learning disabilities. The recruiting manager and Human Resources representative had to make adjustments to a wide range of standard processes, including centralised online recruitment systems that were difficult to navigate, inaccessible job descriptions and difficult application forms. The employee needed significant support from within his own networks to cope with the application process and had concerns about the potential impact of fixed‐term job contracts on future benefits.