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.

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.

New study highlights relation between social class and race

According to a recent study a white school pupil’s social class is more likely to determine their academic performance than that of those from an ethnic minority background. The Guardian has highlighted a study by researchers at the University of London’s Queen Mary and the Institute of Education which has revealed that the gap in performance among white pupils is 32 per cent, while for Bangladeshi children the gap is only 7 per cent. The study also found that Chinese pupils from families with routine and manual jobs perform better than white children whose families are from managerial and professional backgrounds. Click here to read the full article. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/sep/03/social-class-achievement-school

What’s in a name? Should you conceal your gender and race in applications?

We're on the road to nowhere?

I was disappointed to read a series of articles showing how much prejudice about race and gender can still affect your chances of success, even at the most basic level, the CV and application form.

See this government ‘sting’ operation,  sending out identical CVs with different names, from clearly different ethnic communities :

They found that an applicant who appeared to be white would send nine applications before receiving a positive response of either an invitation to an interview or an encouraging telephone call. Minority candidates with the same qualifications and experience had to send 16 applications before receiving a similar response.

And this study on gender, shows an interesting result – male and female recruiters perceived male and female applicants’ resumes differently:

Male recruiters perceptions of applicants work experiences did not differ depending on applicant gender. However, female recruiters perceived male applicants’ resumes to report more work experiences than resumes of female applicants.

Although another study I found did not report a difference between male and female recruiters’ perceptions, but did find:

…highly qualified applicants were preferred over poorly qualified applicants, male applicants were preferred over female applicants…

I think unconscious bias plays a part in these decisions, but there may also be conscious negative associations. Some may assume that someone with a ‘foreign’ name won’t be as fluent in English, that they might need a visa (and then they’ll have to process it…), or they may feel they can’t identify with a candidate if they aren’t even sure how to pronounce their name. Regarding gender, if someone is applying contrary to current gender stereotypes in that role, there may just be a feeling that they don’t ‘fit’. None of these things may be true, fair, or reasonable, but clearly it can affect your chances at making it through the first quick sift.

So what do you do? Some have been known to anglicise a name, or use an initial instead of a full first name. While it can get your foot in the door, you do have to ask yourself, ‘if this company wouldn’t have looked at me before, do I want to work for them now?’. Alternatively you could attempt to proactively counter peoples’ negative assumptions – write a particularly fluent and expressive cover letter, demonstrating your excellent communication and your successful performance as part of a team working on a related project. It can be frustrating if you feel you have to put in more effort here than most to get the same response, but time spent in tailoring applications is always worthwhile, and could make a connection. Or, finally, you could spend more time researching companies and looking for those who clearly make a positive statement about equal opportunities, with demonstrable results, good diversity right up to the highest levels of the company. On a personal level, that would hopefully give you the best chance of a long and successful career, but doesn’t that mean you are limiting your choices?

I can’t help but feel there is no right answer, since it is the world-at-large that needs to change, not you. What do you think? Have you felt discriminated against in this way? Do you have any tips or approaches? Or do you think it is best not to change your methods? It is their loss after all!