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Positive discrimination

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anotheoldgit | 15:51 Sun 04th Nov 2012 | News
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http://www.dailymail....ack-people-women.html

What if a law was brought out which said "if all candidates have equal qualifications for a senior position, only white heterosexual males will be considered for the post", would that also be acceptable?
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What if people had been persistently discriminated against because of their religion -whether they practiced it or not - for many years? What steps would you take to redress that?
jno, it depends whether you think "the other man was as good but we were forced to choose this man because he is black" is an agreeable statement of a position in itself, likely to promote interracial harmony, or benefit the black community, or the individual, in the work place or generally. I don't.
I'm glad people are picking up on the 'tie break' thing.

And I hope if white officers do raise complaints that they have been treated unfairly during their interview process, they aren't accused of 'playing the race card'.

AOG - would you accuse a white officer of playing this particular card if they were bypassed for promotion, when they are no more qualified than a black officer who successfully applied for the same job (and yes, I freely admit I'm laying a trap for you here).
If they are equally qualified sp, then the best presentation and interview on the day succeeds - the best man wins the post.
p.s. Whatever colour, creed or sex they may be.
as long as they're a man then brenden....
Just a figure of speech humbersloop. Change that to "person".
Brenden

Ha ha ha...I saw that 'man' thing and thought that someone would pick up on it!

You know what? I've been thinking about how I interview people, and I admit, I have biases of my own. Ideally an interviewer would be competely unbiased, but you would only get that in a robot.
Sometimes sp I am amazed on what people pick up on - I did say whatever sex they may be - but I am sure I will make more faux pas in the future - nobody is perfect.
This is crazy. Why should legislation give priority to someone on the basis of their background rather than their ability to do the job. This is not equal rights it is discrimination against the best candidate. I am totally against this kind of weighting to tick boxes, meet targets etc. rather than choose who will be right for the job.
grass arp

Out of interest, and I'm genuinely interested here...not picking a fight - but if you had two completely equal candidates for a job, one black and one white, or one male and one female, how would you decide who gets the job.

Cards on table here...I am going through this exact process at the moment, where I've got to interview six people to fill vacancies on my team, and I know that subconsciously that I do not want six blokes. I want some women on my team because I work in IT and we simply don't have enough women in our office.

Therefore, I reckon that given two equally skilled candidates, I'm going to choose the woman.

I can't explain it further than that...I just can't abide the 'all boys club' that some seem comfortable with.
Grasscarp, the intention is not always to fill a vacancy by choosing a candidate from a minority regardless of ability, it is to be used only when there are candidates of equal merit.
depends, sp1814: in the end, you may be thinking "I'll have to work with whoever I choose". And on that basis you may choose someone for their likeability quotient (assuming we're in tie-break mode here). I think that's okay - someone people can work with is better than someone they can't - but it's pretty intangible, so I believe interviewers need to think long and hard about why they find someone "likeable" and be sure it isn't because they've got the same skin colour.
jno

I absolutely agree - the interview process can be a minefield, and you have to divorce your own prejudices from your professional attitude to the interviewee.
// What if a law was brought out which said "if all candidates have equal qualifications for a senior position, only white heterosexual males will be considered for the post", would that also be acceptable? //

No.

SP - I work in IT too, and I'd do the same thing as you for the same reasons. I don't know if it's right or not, but it's just what I'd do.
"I want some women on my team because I work in IT and we simply don't have enough women in our office."

What in the name of anything does that PC crap even mean?
If the office functions with six men in place, what is to be achieved by introducing women "because".
Points scoring forthe sake of it from where I sit.
I haven't read all the posts, but I would hate to be offered a job simply on the grounds of my gender or colour. I'd find that patronising in the extreme. The job should go to the most suitable applicant.
Generally speaking that's right Naomi. What often happens though is that you end up with two or more candidates with absolutely nothing to choose between them - all well qualified, all with the right experience, all with excellent references and who did a great interview etc etc.

In a situation like that you can either pick a name out of a hat or bring other considerations in. Personally if I was in that situation and I had an all male team, I'd employ the female candidate, because in my experience a mixed sex team works better - there's a definite laddish culture that isn't particularly conducive to a good working environment unless there's a mix, so for that reason I'm quite happy to admit I'd discriminate on the grounds of sex.

It's not political correctness - it's simple logic about choosing the best candidate.

None of that applies with race though.
Ludwig, In that case I would agree. If two candidates, one male and one female, were equally qualified, but you felt one or the other would fit in better with your team, then by giving him/her the job you would be choosing the best candidate.
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THECORBYLOON

/// Do you not agree that minorities should be fairly represented where possible? If X represented 50% of the population but in a workforce of 1,000 there were 90% who were X, is that fair? ///

Yes of course, but X being 50% of the population, you must obviously be referring to females, and although there could be a improvement in the amount of females in the top jobs, there are already quite a few.

But where does that get us in the real minority groups, say for instance are the Polish community proportionally represented?

What about the Jews, the Chinese, Homosexuals, etc, etc Blacks and Asians,are not the only minorities in this country.

And under this Metropolitan Police ruling, consider a lower ranking White officer who has all the right qualifications for a top job, what chance has he now?

He must now content himself that he will never get that top job, because he has been excluded by this ruling from ever getting to the top.

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