Biography

Jen O’Connor is an Employability and Disability Officer at the Disability Service. With the combination of these two roles, Jen connects with and supports students who are nearing the end of their studies and are seeking support when transitioning from education to the workplace. Jen works with various schools in TCD to ensure the reasonable accommodations of disabled students who will be undertaking internships are communicated effectively.

A key part of Jen’s work involves the coordination of the Inclusive Internship Programme (IIP). The IIP strives to offer disabled students registered with TCD’s Disability Service meaningful employment opportunities on campus. This allows students to experience a supportive workplace environment and to gain experience advocating for their necessary reasonable accommodations.

Jen joined Trinity in 2023 after working within the disability support sector for two years. She holds a master’s degree in Disability Communication Needs from the University of Galway and is currently undertaking her PhD in Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity.

Jen’s primary area of interest is storytelling and finding ways to enhance how the stories of typically underrepresented communities are communicated. Having completed her bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and Modern Languages from the University of Galway, Jen recognised that her core passion resided with narratives. This influenced her academic journey, and her current PhD research aims to explore the biographical narratives of autistic women. In her free time, Jen continues to explore her interest in narratives further by writing both fiction and creative non-fiction.