Career Barriers Experienced by People with Chronic Illness: A U.S. Study Joy E. Beatty Published online: 11 June 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract This paper examines the career barriers and attitudes of people working in the U.S. with chronic illness. Chronic illness is distinct from disability, with often variable symptoms; symptoms may also be invisible or ambiguous. Social cognitive career theory and illness studies provide the theoretical framing for the specific career barriers of this population. Data comes from interviews with 23 working individuals with chronic illness. The results show that career barriers come from the illness itself (its symptoms and uncertainty), other’ s reactions to illness, and institutional rules. Misconceptions about illness, pity, and perceptions that people with illness either can’t handle challenging work or that they will soon exit the workforce due to their illness were frequently mentioned. Peoples’ career paths are influenced in characteristic ways, with patterns of plateauing, redirecting, retreating, and self-employment. They also report a reprioritization of career and personal goals. The findings aim to distinguish the chronic illness experience and its career barriers to help people with illness and their employers develop effective approaches and strategies for working with illness. Key words Career barriers . Chronic illness . Disability Chronic illnesses are illnesses that are prolonged, do not resolve spontaneously, and are rarely cured completely (Centers for Disease Control, 2009). Examples are conditions like arthritis, asthma, diabetes, cancer, and HIV. In the United States, chronic illnesses affect nearly 72 million working age adults, which is 39% of the working population (Tu and Cohen 2009). The chronic illness population is difficult to identify because symptoms are often variable, invisible, or ambiguous. Some symptoms of chronic illnesses lead to broader disabilities that limit people’ s ability to work, and these cases may be captured with disability statistics. However, improvements in medical treatment make it increasingly possible for people to manage a chronic illness and work, and no statistics are available for Employ Respons Rights J (2012) 24:91–110 DOI 10.1007/s10672-011-9177-z J. E. Beatty (*) Management Studies Department, University of Michigan–Dearborn, 19000 Hubbard Drive, Fairlane Center South 130, Dearborn, MI 48126, USA e-mail: jebeatty@umd.umich.edu