Job applications screening for privilege.

Fleurpepper

if looking for signs of 'privilege' I am surprised they don't ask about Private Education. Children who were privately educated during Covid had a MASSIVE advantage, and probably got much higher exam results.

And you were no doubt delighted with your grandchildren’s achievements as I remember you telling us what an excellent private school they went to.

I really don't think that employers look for gay, working class disabled applicants .

The questions are not screening out the privileged - they are checking that the ads are being seen by, and not discouraging people outside of the 'traditional' demographic (public-school educated white men from 'top' universities). Nobody will know from these questions whether anyone's son or daughter is a disabled lesbian of colour, but they will know whether nobody from any of those groups has applied, and whether 1000 (eg) gay people have applied and none of them has been appointed. This means that they can ensure that the ads are not putting people off, that they are positioned in channels where 'non-traditional' candidates will see them, and that there are no exclusionary or discriminatory practices or policies in the interview process.

The privileged will keep their privilege - don't worry. It's just that there might be some competition from groups who might otherwise have been missed.

Foxygloves

Fleurpepper

if looking for signs of 'privilege' I am surprised they don't ask about Private Education. Children who were privately educated during Covid had a MASSIVE advantage, and probably got much higher exam results.

And you were no doubt delighted with your grandchildren’s achievements as I remember you telling us what an excellent private school they went to.

Yes, absolutely. Does not make any difference to what I said.

Doodledog's already said it: questions're not part of the selection, they're checking the life chances profile of those applying for their jobs, and that allows them to see if there are particular sections of society that are applying for a lot of their jobs but not getting the expected ratio of job offers. If monitored properly, a big business can then check that they are not, consciously or unconsciously, discriminating during the selection process & thereby not always getting the best person for the job,
The theory works better than the practice - but if the applicant doesn't want to answer the questions they can tick"prefer not to say". (or leave blank). The selection panel will never see the screening questions, they are retained - anonymously I believe - in the HR data so that the business has access to them. For instance if they were facing accusations of institutional racism & had statistics that showed a higher rate of successful applications from BAME candidates, they could use that as a positive to reassure current staff, the public & potential applicants.

Funny Fleurpepper from your politics I’d have expected you to be more egalitarian.

Galaxy

Applied for a job in the public sector six months ago, if you mean an equality form with regard to age, sex, disability, etc then yes. Questions on parents education no.

We were requested, not required, to fill in such forms over 20 years ago in our public sector. That applied to existing employees.
It is data-gathering.

I have applied for positions in 5 local authorities over the last 20 years, never been asked about my parents education.
I have interviewed candidates for positions at a local authority within the last year, obviously I know about data gathering for sex disability etc, I have never seen data gathering on parents background.

It’s a standard question on university forms - not for staff appointments which are qualifications and research based, but on student applications. Nobody would lose or gain a place because of their answer, but institutions and departments within them can see how many ‘non-traditional’ applications and acceptances they have. It can easily be drilled down to a course level, too.

I could see that university would do that, they are children when they apply.
And as I say certainly for women in employment there appears to be evidence that the strategies used to remove barriers to womens participation in certain sectors has no particular impact.

No, I don’t suppose it does (and don’t get me started on the fact that men can muscle in on supposedly female shortlists) but I do think that it is important that data like this is collected. Without it there is no way of knowing where the gaps are, or at what stage of the process they appear.

I am quite amazed that class features to be honest, it rarely is mentioned in terms of privilege.

As some posters have mentioned kids from middle class homes are more likely to have access to good study facilities, private tutoring, the latest technology and parental encouragement. Parents from less affluent backgrounds may wish just as fervently for their children to progress but simply not have the money to spare because they have to concentrate their financial resources on essential bills.

One of my daughters works in a very prestigious private school and they did ask her which school she went to at the interview. It happened to be a sister school of the one she now works at. I am sure that helped though she may have still got the job because they actually didn’t ask that until she was being interviewed.

Oh yes, I don’t think anyone would deny that questions can be asked to see if someone has the class credentials to be a ‘good fit’ - it was ever thus, wasn’t it? What I find interesting is that it’s only when there is a sniff of a possibility that there might be positive discrimination in favour of the less advantaged that people get upset.

Foxygloves

Funny Fleurpepper from your politics I’d have expected you to be more egalitarian.

I think it’s a Diane Abbot thing 😉

biglouis
I have 2 grandchildren that have all that you mention ( and more)
But, you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink 😉

Would you want to work for a company that asks these questions as part of the recruitment process?

Anyway your son has had 8 years work experience and the company should be recruiting on the basis of his career progression and experience, not his background.

My experience was that after about 5 years, providing you had the educational basics, whatever they were for the job, employers were uninterested inwhere you got it, what class degree you got and certainly had no interest inyour school. Alltat mattered was job experience and competence.

So much interviewing now is competence and case study based

Don’t forget to post if he got the job

In a similar vein re: privilege, my daughter was told that she was most unlikely to get extra help in school for her son (diagnosed with autism, ADHD ) as she was too 'middle class' and was already doing most of the right things with him! Is this a common occurrence, I wonder?

Grannyjacq1 , the local authority do try and put you off applying for a EHCP and the thresholds vary dependant on where you live but your class makes no difference to whether your child is eligible as it is based on need. I would suggest she join a local autism support group as parents in her area will know the protocol and how to engage with services in a positive way.

Foxygloves

Funny Fleurpepper from your politics I’d have expected you to be more egalitarian.

What is funny about it. I did not send my kids to private schools, and never taught in private ones, although that would have been much much easier, in 100s of ways.

Do you choose how your ACs educate your GCs?

MerylStreep

Foxygloves

Funny Fleurpepper from your politics I’d have expected you to be more egalitarian.

I think it’s a Diane Abbot thing 😉

How low can you get?

He’s had a great offer from a client he had a really god relationship with in his previous role🎉.
Just awaiting the contract 🤞

My second daughter chose to apply to a selective school at 11. They took an exam and interviewed everybody who reached a decent standard. One of the questions was about whether they had had private tuition, and they already knew which girls had been at private schools.
I found out more about the entry system later: if two girls did equally well but one had been at a private school and/or had tuition then the one that had neither would be chosen.
Logically if a child does well without a lot of extra help then they are a better bet.
I can't honestly think that it would really apply for an older person though?

cc

My second daughter chose to apply to a selective school at 11. They took an exam and interviewed everybody who reached a decent standard. One of the questions was about whether they had had private tuition, and they already knew which girls had been at private schools.
I found out more about the entry system later: if two girls did equally well but one had been at a private school and/or had tuition then the one that had neither would be chosen.
Logically if a child does well without a lot of extra help then they are a better bet.
I can't honestly think that it would really apply for an older person though?

Makes total sense and is fair.