Race diversity in organisations

Question 1

What is the truth behind the misconceived ideas of immigrants? (3)

Answer 1

1. Not the unskilled labour that comes and takes away jobs.
2. They are highly educated and come and work in a country for a particular reason.
3. Need to consider all skill levels people bring over to e.g. the UK (Experts, teachers, labour).

Question 2

What is Humanitarian migration? and what have been the implications? (3)

Answer 2

1. People that are fleeing war and seek asylum
2. That cant remain in home country due to dangers
3. Controversial in politic with constant debates.

Difficulty: e.g. Calais camps children difficulty reaching their parents in the UK.

Question 3

How has history of migration been evident? (3)

Answer 3

1. Migration is part of human history, people always move around to get advantages, take opportunities etc
2. Theoretical concept: different meanings in different national contexts. (e-g- policies in nations).
3. Political debate can be similar, although approach is different. (Are we taking on too much? Over-stretching ourselves?).

Question 4

What points to that there is no biological basis for race? (2)

Answer 4

1. Race is a social construction rather than a biological entity
2. Same thing goes for gender identity.
3. Has to do with social categorisation which leads to bias and stereotypes. Which can massively impact your career opportunities.

Question 5

Define social construct

Answer 5

“an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society (Webster dictionary)”

Question 6

What is an ethnic group? and why are they used? (3)

Answer 6

1. Ethnic group: people of the same race of nationality with a shared history and distinct culture.
2. Trying to record their demographic composition in their organisations
3. Categories used in human rights commission

Question 7

What impact does ethnic categories have on people? (4)

Answer 7

1. Has brought a lot of emotions when having to be filled in. E.g. before tests they tend to perform less well due to prejudice about stereotype threat.
2. People directly associate it with history, leading to distinctive threat of not feeling special, which can increase racism amongst white people. (European and American make that feeling go away, rather than just saying “white”).
3. Ethnicity is embedded in culture, not biological differences.
4. Such statements allows people to categorise and make immediate sense of social environment. Can have massive impact on how we feel and judge others.

Question 8

What are common micro-aggressions? (8 common ones)

Answer 8

•Ignoring contributions
• Interrupting
• Forgetting positive contributions
• Recalling negative experiences
• Assumptions about skills
• Benevolent / paternalistic attitudes
• Limited eye contact
• Forgetting names
 = links to the halos and horn effect.

Question 9

Explain the results found after conducting a healthcare experiment in the US? (3)

Answer 9

1. Subliminal priming occurred to reinforce stereotypes of Black, Hispanic and White through negative associations prior to the exercise.
2. Under high time pressure, black and hispanic patients had a less serious diagnosis and black patients were less likely to be referred to a specialist.
3. Results suggest implicit biases may shape medical decisions in ways that disadvantage minority patients.

Question 10

List some of the findings in the race education and pay gap? (2)

Answer 10

1. Study found that British ethnic minority graduates are between 5% and 15% less likely to be employed than their white British peers six months after graduation.
2. There are also marked disparities in wages between many ethnic minority women and black Caribbean men who do manage to find jobs after graduation and their white counterparts.

Question 11

List the findings from the 2015 survey on Equality, Diversity and Racism in the Workplace? (3)

Answer 11

1. 29% of BAME candidates were offered a job compared to 44% of white candidates when going through recruitment agencies
2. 57% of BAME applicants were invited to interviews through a recruitment agency, compared to 73% of white candidates
3. When applying to directly to employer, outcomes were much more equal, with 29% BAME applicants and 29% white applicants securing jobs

Question 12

What are the percentages and ethnicities that have experienced notable levels of dissatisfaction and despondency? (2)

Answer 12

1 .A third (33%) say their career has failed to meet their expectations

2. Highest among Black African (45%) and Black Caribbean (40%) employees

Question 13

Disclose figures showcasing that UK workplaces are less comfortable talking about race than they are about other issues, such as age and gender. (2)

Answer 13

1. Around four in ten employees (37%) say colleagues are comfortable talking about race in the workplace
2. 42% of white employees report this compared with 34% of employees from a BAME background

Question 14

What did the study of the top 10,000 executives in Britain’s firms lead to? (1)

Answer 14

1. To a call for a government report to increase ethnic minorities on FTSE 100 and 250 boards