Among diverse populations, persons with disabilities are still marginalized in most countries. This includes marginalization with respect to employment and career opportunities. Many find it difficult if not impossible to enter the labor market. Others find the only jobs they are able to obtain restricted to work in segregated sheltered workshops, enclaves (i.e., groups of people with disabilities who travel together throughout the community with a non-disabled person as their leader and do short-term work at businesses and other organizations) and/or in low-skill and poorly paid occupations (Kitching, 2014).

This situation is a result of multiple factors including bias and discrimination based on ableism, the limited access people with disabilities in many countries have to high quality education, and a lack of employment experience during school. All too frequently these factors and conditions lead to people with disabilities experiencing unemployment, social exclusion, and poverty.

Two alternatives to working for others, be they people or organizations, are self-employment and entrepreneurship. Self-employment entails an individual working for themselves for personal gain and income instead of wages earned from employment. From a socio-economic perspective self-employment is somewhat limiting as it places emphasis (and resources) on the creation of employment opportunities for one individual. In contrast, entrepreneurship involves bringing something new to market (Schumpeter, 2000). This includes business start-up activities. It goes beyond self-employment as it can potentially create an opportunity for a larger business to be established that has potential to lead to additional jobs creating greater socio-economic benefits for society.

For some, self-employment and entrepreneurship represent alternative forms of employment and economic self-sufficiency. For others, these forms of work may offer more autonomy, a stronger sense of dignity or a greater opportunity to follow career aspirations. For still others, they may the only options available. Regardless of the reasons for a person with a disability becoming involved self-employment and entrepreneurship a critical feature of these approaches is the concept of empowerment as a central principle and goal (Stainton, 2005). Understood as self-empowerment, the concept aims at increasing autonomy and self-confidence. It also aims at the identification and further development of one's own strengths and competencies on her or his own. The core concept of empowerment-based self-employment and entrepreneurship is based on the term power in the sense of having the power to realize oneself and to help others do the same. Fundamental to the approach are understanding of participation, integration, individualization, power, influence, and self-realization (Jönsson, 2010).

Self-employment and entrepreneurship are not for everyone whether they experience or do not experience disability. People who are successful in this area need to be creative, self-motivated, good at problem-solving and taking responsibility, have an internal locus of control, able to connect with and potentially manage others, aware of their own strengths and challenges, and beyond all else, determined. They must also be comfortable taking risks as many business start-ups fail over the long run. In addition to people who are self-employed or entrepreneurs needing to possess a high dose of the aforementioned personal characteristics, there are typical challenges they need to overcome that can be financial (lack of access to capital, potential reduction of disability benefits), societal (discrimination, prejudice and bias), and personal (lack of opportunity to develop skills and competencies supportive of business success (e.g., management skill, supervisory abilities, accounting skills), and a low sense of self-efficacy.

In spite of the risks and challenges however, Self-employment and entrepreneurship can have benefits for people with disabilities. These include: independence and the ability to accommodate an individual’s lifestyle; opportunities for self-determination; flexibility in working hours; control over the location of work, accommodations available, and the overall work atmosphere. Moreover, the levels of satisfaction with job, type of job and working conditions of self‐employed people with disabilities are higher than those reported by disabled people who are wage and salary earners (Pagan, 2009).

All over the world, people with disabilities have shown that they have desire to work, a strong sense of determination to succeed in this endeavor and have the potential to become experts at what they do. What this segment of the population need at this time in order to be successful are: (1) increased awareness of self-employment and entrepreneurial opportunities; (2) entrepreneurial skill training, (3) accessibility to well-trained mentors; (4) increased availability of technology, and (5) access to capital or financial support.

If our goal is to move toward a more inclusive society, a social and economic framework will need to be developed that promotes fairness and sustainability for all groups including people with disabilities. Self-employment and entrepreneurial employment, which are more open and supportive of new ideas can play a role in this transformation as they both address the needs of a highly diverse set of target groups.