Jobs & Education1 min ago
No Black Or Ethnic Minority Headteachers In Scotland- Political Correctness Again
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Hi there
The Scottish government are on their political correctness bandwagon again by moaning about the fact that there are no black or ethinic minority headteachers in Scotland instead of it being racism could it not be that no applications from these minorities met the criteria for the posts? Surely when recruiting interviewers need to select the most suitable person for the post regardless of skin colour soon employers will have to select a black person for a post not because they are the most suitable but because it is the politically correct thing to do it is getting quite ridicolus !!
http:// www.bbc .co.uk/ news/uk -scotla nd-3312 2160
The Scottish government are on their political correctness bandwagon again by moaning about the fact that there are no black or ethinic minority headteachers in Scotland instead of it being racism could it not be that no applications from these minorities met the criteria for the posts? Surely when recruiting interviewers need to select the most suitable person for the post regardless of skin colour soon employers will have to select a black person for a post not because they are the most suitable but because it is the politically correct thing to do it is getting quite ridicolus !!
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I want to see more diversity here. We may come last but what the ***.
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It's not nonsense, but then I'm brainwashed of course... I want to stress that I don't think this makes Scottish school application panels racist, consciously or otherwise, but it is a simple truth that if a particular factor has nothing to do with ability to do a job then that should show up in the figures as a workforce statistically equivalent to the diversity of the population. Any difference and that means that there is still a connection between, say, your gender and your chances of getting a job. Whatever that connection is, simply ignoring it and you risk the problem persisting -- and, in particular, you actually risk missing out on people who are just as talented getting the job. Which is precisely the problem people want to avoid.
In this particular case, no BME headteachers ought to be compared with an expected number of about 15 based on current diversity of 5% BME, and then the number of BME people in Scotland was only 2% in 2001, ie about 7 BME headteachers instead. Given that the role of headteacher tends to require a great deal of experience, it's possible that this simply represents the lag between ending (or acknowledging, and tackling) discrimination and the population catching up; perhaps there is a case to be made that we shouldn't therefore be overly concerned yet. But in an ideal society, where there is no discrimination and only talent matters, then it does indeed follow that you should expect the workforce to be as diverse as the population. And, if it is not, then you should try to find out why.
In this particular case, no BME headteachers ought to be compared with an expected number of about 15 based on current diversity of 5% BME, and then the number of BME people in Scotland was only 2% in 2001, ie about 7 BME headteachers instead. Given that the role of headteacher tends to require a great deal of experience, it's possible that this simply represents the lag between ending (or acknowledging, and tackling) discrimination and the population catching up; perhaps there is a case to be made that we shouldn't therefore be overly concerned yet. But in an ideal society, where there is no discrimination and only talent matters, then it does indeed follow that you should expect the workforce to be as diverse as the population. And, if it is not, then you should try to find out why.
I agree that if you are deliberately hiring people because of their ethnic background is a mistake. The point is that it should happen naturally that the diversity of the workforce matches reasonably well with that of the population. Some variation is natural, a point that is often overlooked by those who are obsessive over quotas, but at any rate the statement that "the best people should get the job, regardless of ethnicity etc." is most likely to be true if the workforce is also diverse.
With regard to the questions on forms about asking for nationality, etc., to ensure equality, it depends on how this information is used. Properly, what should be done with the data so gathered is that it plays no part in the application process but is used after the process is complete to check that it was fair and not discriminatory. Of course, some companies may use it to help them meet and enforce quotas, which would be a mistake, but that is their lookout.
With regard to the questions on forms about asking for nationality, etc., to ensure equality, it depends on how this information is used. Properly, what should be done with the data so gathered is that it plays no part in the application process but is used after the process is complete to check that it was fair and not discriminatory. Of course, some companies may use it to help them meet and enforce quotas, which would be a mistake, but that is their lookout.
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