Positive discrimination - It has got to stop

[Scuttler]

BBC NEWS | England | Gloucestershire | Force admits rejecting white men

I'm really getting tired of hearing and reading about cases such as these. When are we going to start employing the best person for the job. Regardless of age, sex, race, religion or any other discriminatory factor.

Look at the political parties insisting that x percent of their MPs/Candidates must be female. It's ridiculous.

Another example is in the Prison service. My ex HAS to interview any person with a disability regardless of whether they would make the sift on merit. This is clearly wrong. People who have no hope of ever getting an interview, other than through this preposterous ruling, and who are clearly not suited to the job end up having to be interviewed at yours and my expense!

Sorry.....but this has really got on my goat this morning.

/rant off

[Zee]

Have to say political correctness has gone mad and positive discrimination can have it's benefits but where do we draw the line?

An example that got me thinking this week...

A lady came into our office and said "ooh, you three all look just the same" (in that we are female, should probably all diet and happen to have brown hair).

It occurred to me that there was NO way I would have gotten away with saying a similar thing in her office....

why?

Because the lady was Black - imagine me going in there and saying they all look the same, I'd probably get the sack.

Just thought I'd mention it!

Originally Posted by Scuttler

Another example is in the Prison service. My ex HAS to interview any person with a disability regardless of whether they would make the sift on merit. This is clearly wrong. People who have no hope of ever getting an interview, other than through this preposterous ruling, and who are clearly not suited to the job end up having to be interviewed at yours and my expense!

Incidentally, we were forced to interview a chef for a Finance job for the same reasons above! Wasted his time too!!

[Scuttler]

Originally Posted by Zee

positive discrimination can have it's benefits

I've never been a great fan of it, it's like teaching a child that violence is wrong by smacking them. Two wrongs don't make a right.

If you want to ensure that a fair selection/recruitment campaign has been run then one way of doing this is to have a system of random audits and an independent complaints/investigative body that can review and overturn employment decisions or impose penalties. It's not an ideal way I know but I just can't abide the current methods.

[sidthejedi]

If a decision has to be made between two people with equal qualifications and experiences, then reluctantly I accept that in the modern day society the person from the minority group in that industry will get the job 99 times out of 100. Fair enough - the white male has over the decades got the rub of the green more times than most and hence in order for parity to be restored those choices have to be made.

What bugs me is when the person from the minority group gets the job despite other people applying being better suited to the post. Just because it happened 20 years ago the other way round doesn't make it any more acceptable now. I fear that the world is moving into a stage where groups that have been discriminated against in the past are being allowed to turn the tables and give the descendants of those who did the wronging a taste of their forefathers medicine. All that does is create a seesaw effect much like what we see in Politics, where the priority of a party when it gets into power is to get even for the way its voters were discriminated against under the previous government.

[Buoyant Babe]

Well, I have a job interview today so I sincerely hope they positively discriminate in favour of short, blonde, spiky haired women with a penchant for pointy toed shoes

Seriously, I'm not sure I like the way this thread is already descending and can see why some people have voiced conerns over 'speakers corner'

[nickb]

I'm afraid Political Correctness was invented because of the sort of people who would utter the phrase "it's Political Correctness gone mad!"

[Scuttler]

Originally Posted by sidthejedi

If a decision has to be made between two people with equal qualifications and experiences.

I'm not convinced that any selection panel/recruiter is ever faced with two perfectly equal candidates.....I may be wrong but I think this is an idealistic comment.

[Lazlo]

I guess it depends on how you define "best person for the job". Such a requirement doesn't always rest entirely on an applicant's CV. It can also be taken to include other factors - such as a need for various communities to be properly represented.

To put it another way, and to put it hypothetically - one candidate might not be as qualified as another, or even as good at his job, but nevertheless appointing the "lesser" candidate might actually result in a better overall service. In the case of the police, much crime does not get reported, possibly because people don't instinctively trust someone from an obviously different background (or colour, if you will). Sad, but true.

That's the theory, I don't know whether I totally agree with it, but there is certainly some merit in the idea of "positive discrimination", IMO.

In the case quoted, I assume that the police messed up, or there would not have been a payout, but I wouldn't like to comment. It would certainly wind me up if I had been rejected on that basis.

[Scuttler]

Originally Posted by Buoyant Babe

Well, I have a job interview today so I sincerely hope they positively discriminate in favour of short, blonde, spiky haired women with a penchant for pointy toed shoes

Good luck with the interview

[Scuttler]

Originally Posted by Lazlo

I guess it depends on how you define "best person for the job". Such a requirement doesn't always rest entirely on an applicant's CV. It can also be taken to include other factors - such as a need for various communities to be properly represented.

To put it another way, and to put it hypothetically - one candidate might not be as qualified as another, or even as good at his job, but nevertheless appointing the "lesser" candidate might actually result in a better overall service. In the case of the police, much crime does not get reported, possibly because people don't instinctively trust someone from an obviously different background (or colour, if you will). Sad, but true.

Actually, I hadn't considered that. The points you raise don't sit comfortably with me but I completely understand the logic behind it.