In this week’s equality and diversity news – Race for Opportunity survey finds racist comments in workplaces are rife; BBC comes under the spotlight for its lack of diversity; debate on women in higher education and Department for Education study suggests state school pupils outperform their grammar and private school peers at university.
A survey by Race for Opportunity found that racist comments are rife and problems in recruitment persist. The research also revealed that there are sectors that ethnic minorities perceive as closed to them, including banking, politics, law and journalism. These fields also tend to recruit from selective networks in which ethnic minority people may not be proportionally represented, for example law tend to mostly recruit from Russell Group universities. Sandra Kerr, Director of Race for Opportunity, said: “The comments I received I couldn’t print.”
Simon Albury, the former chief executive of the Royal Television Society, has attacked the BBC for ignoring talented young black and minority ethnic staff. The comments come shortly after Diane Coyle, the acting chair of the BBC Trust, said improving diversity on and off screen should be a priority for the BBC. Albury also complained that Today presenter James Naughtie had dismissed the lack of diversity on the flagship show by saying the programme was “not a sociological laboratory”.
Reacting to TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp’s advice that young girls should have children early instead of going to university, Clare Mackie, pro vice-chancellor at Sussex University, said: “University life enhances life chances, this is where you establish networks and contacts, build aspirations.” She discarded Allsopp’s advice as “no argument at all” and added: “”University has never been more welcoming for women, they can study full-time or take a gap to have a baby. As a female professor, university has never been more welcoming too – you can have both worlds, a family and an academic career.”
A study commissioned by the Department for Education revealed that pupils from non-selective state schools outperform their grammar and private school peers. The research also found that comprehensive pupils with equivalent grades were less likely to drop out. Claire Crawford of Warwick University and the Institute for Fiscal Studies, who authored the report, suggested that Oxford, Cambridge and other universities “may wish to consider lowering their entry requirements for pupils from non-selective or low-value-added state schools”.
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