Rebecca Gewurtz
Associate Professor, Rehabilitation Science

Dr. Rebecca Gewurtz is an Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science and an Adjunct Scientist at the Institute for Work and Health. She is the Director of the Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA) Social Innovation Laboratory, funded by a Transformation Grant from the New Frontiers Research Fund. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and completed a collaborative program through the CHSRF/CIHR in Health Services and Policy Research.

Dr. Gewurtz’ research focuses on work disability policy, income insecurity, and employment among people living with disabilities, with a focus on mental illness and other episodic disabilities. She has been examining the experiences of various stakeholders including people with disabilities, service providers, co-workers and employers as people with disabilities are hired and accommodated in diverse workplaces, as well as the impact and coordination of income security benefits. She has been involved in large partnership projects that include diverse community stakeholders such as employers, non-profit social service organizations and government agencies. She has experience with participatory action research and co-designing solutions to complex workplace problems. Her recent work includes a focus on measuring accessibility, the experiences of people transitioning from homelessness to being housed, and the process of negotiating workplace accommodations. She has also been examining the impact of physical distancing policies associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on low-income households. Through IDEA, she has focused on demand side capacity building and finding ways to skill up workplace stakeholders to hire, accommodate, support and promote workers with disabilities.

Dr. Gewurtz is currently recruiting graduate students who are interested in studying employment support systems, and social and workplace policies that address income and employment security for people with disabilities.