Report published on careers destinations of disabled students

The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services has just published the 2011 report on the first destinations of disabled graduates (based on data collected from the 2008/09 cohort) . Findings reported in What Happens Next? A Report on the First Destinations of Disabled Graduates suggest that the proportion of both disabled and non-disabled graduates entering employment in 2009 fell, although the decrease for disabled graduates overall was marginally less than for their non-disabled peers.

February 2011 is UCL Diversity Month

There’s a full programme of free events to celebrate diversity and examine the challenges some groups face in education, work and society more generally. The theme of the programme this year is Making connections, challenging assumptions. Examples of events include: Film screenings every Wednesday 18:30 in the AV Hill LT. Films to include: You live and burn (69′), (Finland – Iiris Härmä, Finland 2007); The Last Summer of La Boyita (93′) (El ultimo verano de La Boyita: Julia Solomonoff, Argentina 2009); Diary of a Times Square Thief (60′) (USA (New York), The Netherlands (Amsterdam) – Klaas Bense, The Netherlands 2008);To the Marriage of True Minds (12′), (Andrew Steggall UK 2009); Eddie and Thea (61′) (Gréta Olafsdóttir and Susan Muska 2009) (Documentary). On 1 February: 13:00-14:00: ‘Pinkstinks: the end of childhood. Why the obsession with femininity is bad for little girls’ by Abi Moore of Pinkstinks, which is a campaign and social enterprise that challenges the culture of pink which invades every aspect of girls’ lives. This talk will look at the boundaries taught to young girls and will discuss the damaging messages about what it is to be a girl. 2 February 18:00-19:30 “White Lies: racism, class and educational inequality”, Professor Gillborn, Institute of Education. The lecture will review how an image of white people as the new race victims has been created and look beneath this facade to explore the continuing significance of racism as a daily reality in education, from primary schools to universities. It will be followed by a panel discussion including Hugh Muir (Guardian Journalist) and Gloria Hyatt MBE (pioneer of the country’s first school independent school for black and minority ethnic students.)  10 February 18:00-19:00 Queer in the time of terro, by Dr. Rahul Rao, School of Oriental and African Studies. This talk will look at recent Western activist initiatives responding to the apparent persecution of homosexuals in Iran. Dr. Rao will look at some of the ways in which LGBT rights activism has become entangled in the security preoccupations and panics of the ongoing ‘war on terror’ and will consider some of the dilemmas of LGBT activists in the Middle East, as well as LGBT activists of colour in the West, in responding to these entanglements. 22 February 18:00-19:30 Leading the way and opening doors Members of Age Concern’s Opening Doors Central London Project will be speaking about their experiences of being gay or lesbian in far less liberal times – examining how society has changed over the decades as a direct result of tireless campaigning for LGBT equality. Full programme and to register here.

Shaw Trust Monthly Job Hunter Newsletter

Ability at Work – Graduate Opportunities for all Disabilities through Shaw Trust.  Among many other opportunities link here for internship schemes with Ernst & Young, GCHQ and Slaughter & May.

Caroline Thomson, chief operating officer at the BBC, on diversity

A short video where the Chief Operating Officer at the BBC talks about diversity.  The BBC’s Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies include details of workforce schemes (disability, gender and race) and equality targets.

Applicants from disadvantaged groups overlooked by employers

Three quarters of employers haven’t hired from disadvantaged groups, such as young people without qualifications, ex-offenders or older workers, in the last three years. Research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and professional services firm KPMG, also found that one third of employers actively exclude some disadvantaged groups from their recruitment process.  For more on this article see http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/12/22/57131/applicants-from-disadvantaged-groups-overlooked-by-employers.html

Equality Act 2010

Most of the Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1st October 2010. How has this changed the landscape for the disadvantaged student or graduate?

The new Act makes it more difficult for disabled people to be unfairly screened out when applying for jobs, as employers cannot now ask health or disability-related questions until AFTER they have made you a job offer.

There are four exceptions to this:
1. Some employers take positive action to give an advantage to those with a disability (such as giving them an automatic interview) – If so, they can request this information.
2. Some employers want to specifically employ someone with a disability, in which case they can have it as a requirement of the job.
3. Many employers monitor their discrimination and can ask about gender, disabilities and ethnic origin etc. But they can request this only if it stays separate from the selection process.
4. Employers can request information where a particular function which is intrinsic to the role would prohibit those with certain specific disabilities from doing the job (i.e. a lifeguard needs to be able to swim a certain distance whist supporting another person in the water so an employer can legitimately ask if a potential employee can do this).

However an employer must still keep to the reasonable adjustment rules, so they cannot automatically say no.

The Act includes a new Equality Duty (expected to come into force in April 2011) which will bring together the existing race, disability and gender duties, and extend to cover age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment in full. The Act provides for positive actions, such as employers offering shadowing or training opportunities to ethnic minorities.

More information can be found at;

Equality Act 2010: What do I need to know?
FAQs on commencement of the Equality Act 2010
ACAS – The Equality Act 2010
Health warning from The Guardian

Is it time for radical solutions when it comes to getting poorer students into top universities?

There is an interesting article in the education section of The Independent today that focuses on the reasons why poorer students tend to have difficulty accessing higher education in top UK universities.  It also suggests some new approaches that could be used to improve access.

“Recession is putting more men than women out of work” reports People Management

Often the focus of events and schemes posted here relate to helping women break into areas where they are under-represented, however that’s not to say that men don’t face gender-related issues too. People Management have reported that the recession has caused more of an increase in the male unemployment rate – with a 50% rise as compared to 33% rise in female unemployment. This has led to the headline-grabbing prediction that 1 in 10 men will be unemployed by 2010 if trends continue, with the current rates showing:

At 9 per cent, the male unemployment rate is significantly higher than the female rate of 6.9 per cent

Worryingly, they note that the worst affected are:

Young males aged 18-24 and black men are the demographic groups most likely to be unemployed, the statistics revealed, with one in five of both groups out of work.

Perhaps this male-female imbalance is due to the recession affecting some sectors worse than others, with the worst affected areas being the ones which tend to be more male-dominated. As The Guardian has recently reported, the service sector is showing recovery, with hospitality in particular showing strength – an area that is more female-friendly. And as the People Management article suggested, the female unemployment rate may rise if cuts in public sector budgets lead to staff cuts.  So maybe this story is revealing another reason for pursuing a more even gender balance across career paths and sector  – so that when the economic strengths of the country shift, the balance of men and women in employment remains the same.

Or do you have an alternative theory?