Highlights of equality and diversity news from last week: new report presents evidence of erasure of women from public life, CEO of Yahoo! bans working from home, and Oxford University is accused of bias against ethnic minority applicants.
A report published last week, entitled ‘Sex and Power 2013: Who runs Britain?’, presents evidence of the ‘shocking erasure of women from public life’, including at senior levels in the judiciary, education, the arts, finance, the civil service, the City, media and government. The report outlines how women make up only 22.5% of MPs and 17.4% of the cabinet, only 15.6% of high court judges and just 5% of editors of national daily newspapers. Some areas, such as regional politics, have seen progress being reversed.
In another news, Marissa Mayer, the recently appointed CEO of Yahoo!, has banned working from home, citing the need for increased productivity and a more connected company culture. In her email to Yahoo! employees, Mayer wrote, “Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home.” The decision has been criticised from many quarters.
In the last two decades or so, flexible working has emerged as the way for the future. Flexible working, especially working from home, can be hugely advantageous for those juggling work and caring responsibilities. And it’s not as difficult to manage as Marissa Mayer might think it is. The Guardian has put together five golden rules for working from home.
Figures obtained by the Guardian have revealed that at Oxford University, white candidates are twice more likely to be made an offer of admission as compared to ethnic minority candidates, even with the same grades. In 2010 and 2011, 25.7% of white applicants and 17.2% of ethnic minority applicants received an offer to attend the university.
Have something to add? Write to Equality.and.Diversity@lse.ac.uk.
I truly agree with what you have published in the equality and diversity section on this website. I am learning about diversity and leadership. Leadership roles are very difficult to be seen in the minorities and also including the acceptance rate as you mentioned is very low. Many of the minorities are only acknowledged with half of what they have provided or demonstrated. I hope minorities will have better opportunities to demonstrate their skills in different areas.