Abstract
Despite the plethora of research on organisational change and its emphasis on the role of agency, there is no study to date which has developed an evidence-based participatory research informed framework relating to autistic jobseekers’ resilience to fill the gap between change agents and how their experiences within and beyond organisational borders could be conceptualised using a dual agency – positioning theory lens. By using qualitative case study with autistic employees, an Agency - Positioning Theory lens, participatory research design involving 24 autistic jobseekers, this study amplified how staff navigated/made sense of an intersection of job seeking – in-work employment – focus group discussion to amplify key experiences around 1) ‘workplace barriers’, 2) ‘borderisation’ and 3) ‘inequality’. These amplified and challenged how previous studies’ focus on autistic employees and jobseekers’ agency role should be understood as a transitional concept of their quest for and retention of work. I draw on the combined group’s experiences of borderisation to build a resilience framework highlighting its key contributions to a reconceptualization of organisational change research and the notion of living in and out and across workplace and social group borders. I highlight how this new framework contributes theoretically and practically to Organisational Change, agency and positioning theorising and draw on the criticality of developing wider networks of resilience to address the adverse impacts of borderisation on people and organisations. An agenda for future research is explicated.