A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Adults who Stutter in Recruitment Process and Work Life

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the experiences of adults who stutter related to their recruitment process and work life and further examined what meaning can be drawn from those experiences. Methods: Six participants who stutter (6 males, mean age = 33.6 years) were interviewed and verbatim interview transcripts were analyzed using constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. Credibility was established by way of member checking, researcher comparison with only consensual themes and interpretations presented in the final analysis. Results: Five main themes, “adverse effect of stuttering on the career selection and recruitment process,” “adverse effect of stuttering on the quality of work life,” “negative perceptions and emotional responses in a result of negative experiences associated with stuttering,” “coping strategies used to deal with stuttering and the associated negative feelings,” and “positive results from coping strategies used to deal with stuttering and the associated negative feelings” were distilled by the qualitative data analyzing method. The main themes and their subthemes indicate that stuttering is problematic at the recruitment process and work life, in general. Conclusion: Findings were further discussed in terms of what meaning can be derived from those work-related experiences of adults who stutter.