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The goal of the current descriptive and comparative study is to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the employment realities of recent junior/community college and university graduates and premature leavers (i.e., those who drop out before completing their program of study) with disabilities. We investigate the following research questions related to employment: (a) What are the characteristic of individuals who are employed and of individuals who are not employed? (b) Why are unemployed individuals unable to find work? and (c) Why do some individuals stay out of the labour force (i.e., not employed or looking for work: Statistics Canada, 2008a)? We also examine (d) the role of the following in finding employment: grades, highest qualification attained, and type of disability/impairment as well as (e) job satisfaction and its relation to program of study. Between 11% and 14% of current junior/community college and university students have a disability both in Canada (Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities, 2012) and the United States (Snyder & Dillow, 2012). Therefore, understanding the transition of well-educated youth with disabilities from postsecondary studies to employment is of great importance. Understanding this transition is vital given that postsecondary students with disabilities graduate at the same rate as students without disabilities, with the main difference being that they take additional time to do so (Jorgensen, Fichten, Havel, Lamb, James, & Barile, 2005; Wessel, Jones, Markle, & Westfall, 2009).

We examined aspects of the experiences of postsecondary students with various disabilities that facilitate higher grades and stronger intention to graduate. Specifically, we focused on experiences that could be modified by the student, the community, or the school. Self-reports of 611 junior/community college and university students with various disabilities show that the best predictors of intention to graduate were the absence of social alienation on campus, strong course self-efficacy, and school environment related facilitators (e.g., good schedule, positive attitudes of professors) as well as personal situation facilitators, such as having friends and high levels of personal motivation. In addition, students registered for campus disability- related services were more likely to intend to graduate as were full-time students. Intention to graduate and grades were only weakly related. Grades were best predicted by course self-efficacy. Stronger social self-efficacy and more personal situation and school environmentrelated facilitators were also related to better grades. Results also show that junior/community colleges are more "friendly" to students with disabilities than are universities (i.e., students feel less alienated and experience more school environment related facilitators). Recommendations are made based on the findings on aspects that can be modified to facilitate academic success.

We examined aspects of the experiences of postsecondary students with various disabilities that facilitate higher grades and stronger intention to graduate. Specifically, we focused on experiences that could be modified by the student, the community, or the school. Self-reports of 611 junior/community college and university students with various disabilities show that the best predictors of intention to graduate were the absence of social alienation on campus, strong course self-efficacy, and school environment related facilitators (e.g., good schedule, positive attitudes of professors) as well as personal situation facilitators, such as having friends and high levels of personal motivation. In addition, students registered for campus disability- related services were more likely to intend to graduate as were full-time students. Intention to graduate and grades were only weakly related. Grades were best predicted by course self-efficacy. Stronger social self-efficacy and more personal situation and school environment-related facilitators were also related to better grades. Results also show that junior/community colleges are more "friendly" to students with disabilities than are universities (i.e., students feel less alienated and experience more school environment related facilitators). Recommendations are made based on the findings on aspects that can be modified to facilitate academic success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]