This interpretive qualitative grounded theory study served to explore whether barriers still exist that impede employment for individuals with disabilities (IWD), and ascertain whether hidden factors impact employee engagement for IWD. This study includes a description of key terms related to this research in addition to other definitions of employee engagement to show the array of meanings associated with employee engagement. The literature review chapter includes a review of literature concerning barriers to employment for IWD, and employment engagement. However, a lack of literature exists that examines employee engagement for IWD. Additionally, the literature review chapter discusses the role of leadership concerning employee engagement, and the significant role of generational differences in the 21st century workforce. The data collection open-ended interview process and analysis focused on learning the meaning that the 33 participants held about employee engagement. The chapter on findings includes a discussion of the emerging grounded theory of resilience engagement in addition to the barriers to employment and factors to ensure employee engagement for IWD. The summary, conclusions, and recommendations chapter includes a description of implications and makes recommendations for further research. Finally, this dissertation shows that law makers and employers still have to ensure all members of society are treated equally and are able to live a prosperous life.