This study examined the relationship between the employment status of visually impaired college graduates in Great Britain and their social networks, both formal and informal. The unemployed graduates had less extensive support networks to help them find jobs; used contacts in less directive ways; and socialized in more structured, group-centered ways than did the employed graduates.

This was one of several papers given at the RNIB Seminar on The Disability Discrimination Act and Education held at the University of the West of England, Bristol in November 1995. In this study 51 visually impaired graduates were interviewed on issues relating to their studies and the transition from higher education and post- graduation to employment. The study found that 55% of graduates were in employment and that this figure included only a very few who were under-employed. No link was found between the chance of equitable employment and the degree of visual loss but there was a slight tendency for females to succeed post-graduation compared with males. When questioned about the types of supportive intervention they required to assist transition, graduates expressed a need for a range of provision. The nature of the response sometimes depended on whether graduates were unemployed or employed.