Positive Discrimination in the workplace

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Marble

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What do you guys think of employing people based on ethnicity, gender, disability etc?

I generally support the notion that disadvantaged groups should be given a helping hand in to the workplace, but I do think the system (like any other) may be open to a bit too much interpretation by tits and do gooders.

Recently my mum, aged 56, who has had bi-polar disorder for 30 years and for the last 5 years had been involved in developing mental health services where she lives, applied to work for a leading mental health charity on a part time basis to work on a pioneering project nationwide, where only a select few people out of thousands would get the nod.

She was selected for an interview in London, how excited she was, one of only two people in the Northeast attempting to represent the Northeast, but was told a couple of days after the interview, that she wasn't successful, based on the 'ethnic minority issue'.

The thing is, she says there wasn't a question about ethnic minorities, and reached the conclusion that she must have been up against an ethnic minority candidate. The man also said they couldn't split the two candidates (which I find hard to believe), so again it looks like she lost out due to being against an ethnic minority candidate.

I just don't buy the idea that my mum and the other person scored exactly the same in terms of scoring criteria. Either she would have got it, or been up against someone of a higher calibre: Definately not buying this mans idea that he couldn't split her and the next candidate.

Anyone else have any views on this subject?

Are there ways to make it transparent, so people know before they apply the pitfulls of applying for a job like this?
 
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And my best friend is black....I told him exactly the same as I am telling you.

Paste my message off to your mates and see what they think. I'd be interested to know.

Mums come first lol.
 
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She should look for the two tick disability symbol when applying for jobs Marble - as someone who suffers from bi-polar disorder she should be covered by this, basically it's for disabled people and providing she meets the minimum person spec they have to give her an interview - can speak to a DEA (Disability Employment Advisor) at the local job centre, they have more info on it etc. and there's also more info at http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/employmentsupport/lookingforwork/dg_4000314

Martin
 
Martin, it was a service user job, meaning the charity in question were looking for someone with experience of having a mental health condition, also known as a 'service user'. All applicants would have come from that background. There are some fantastic service user representatives who work in the field of mental health representing others, my mum being one.

I just find it hard to believe that her and the other person couldn't be split through other means, and it came down to the fact that the other person was from an ethnic minority. That is my issue.

My mum has a degree in computer science, has worked for organisations such as the Terrance Higgins Trust, and it just smells a bit like she was sent to London for an interview thinking she had a chance, when possibly the candidate they wanted had already been picked. Having discussed it with her that is what I'm sensing.
 
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Thanks Marble - it doesn't sound good from what you've posted, but like a lot of these things it's hard to prove that was the case :(
 
From the answers you are getting here Marble, Ino one has the guts to address the issue head on (bar Stamp) and seemingly its a bit of a joke, which it clearly wasnt to your mother. People quick enough to scream racist at the barest hint of a comment on this forum but when race is used in a genuinely discrminatory way, they seem to find it all very amusing

There is no doubt that there is discrimation in hiring and its very difficult to deal with but frankly you do not do so by discrimating in return
 
I didn't even read the thread....saw an opportunity for a cheesy joke and went for it. I only got round to reading the OP now, and I apologise to Marble. That sounds very distressing for your mother.

I dislike the idea of quotas and positive discrimination. Progress in life should be decided by merit alone. There is clearly an issue with ethnic minorities being poorly represented in sections of society. I don't really know the answer, but I am pretty sure it is not to hire an ethnic minority based on anything other than merit.
 
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It's a complete misnomer to call it positve discrimination when it is anything but. When I worked in Northern Ireland the whole Catholic / Protestant thing was an absolute minefield in that regard. Very difficult to hire the most talented person for the position.

On the flip side of this though the company I worked with did promotions where cars etc could be won. We made a fundamental error on one occasion in holding a live draw to win a car. The winning ticket was that of a recently convicted sectarian murderer of a very prominent celebrity's father. I can assure you it didn't go down well.

The equal opportunities lobby are constantly going on about the paucity of women in politics and a remedy of positive discrimination in relation to appointing women to our Dail. Democracy cannot become a victim of "positive discrimation".
 
Without knowing the detail of the job, I suspect it's most likely that the organisation is in need of a proportion of people on the project to work with ethnic minority communities where working with people with disabilities of any kind can often be made much easier by an in-depth understanding of the culture.
 
I don't think it says much for our culture, the British culture that is, if a leading mental health charity can't trust a white women to deal with what might be a black young man or women with mental health problems.

It would have been a fairer process, if the job was focused around black and ethnic minorities, to have had a black or ethnic minority person on the interview panel, instead of white middle class management playing god on culture and fairness.

Anyway, my mum, a working class women of immense substance, will march on.

She has told me she will believe the best person got the job, her only concern was the white middle class panel and their assessment process.
 
It isn't about trust, Marble, or at least not about the charity not being able to "trust a white woman" to do the job. It's more likely to about it being easier for someone from the same, or similar, cultural background to gain the trust of inididviduals and their families in this situation.

It doesn't mean, either, that the job is necessarily focussed around ethnic minorities. Inevitably, a proportion of the people with mental issues are from minority communities. It's right and proper that a mental health charity should strive to have a proportion of employees from those communities to support them.

As for the "white, middle-class panel" - that doesn't surprise me in the least - but you can only get away from a preponderance of white, middle-class management if you recruit people from other backgrounds and cultures .........
 
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