Today, I was going through the motions of checking news on various outlets. CNBC was reporting a study that mentioned something called the "Poshness Test" in the U.K. News surrounding this study is reported in various outlets, such as The Guardian (see http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/15/poshness-tests-block-working-class-applicants-at-top-companies). Essentially, the study found that elite law, accountancy, and financial services firms in the U.K. hire the vast majority of their employees from elite or private schools. The article then implies discrimination on part of the firms against graduates from state universities. I admit that I have not read the study in its entirety, but I did glance at it to see what schools these firms hire from predominantly (you can find the full study at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/434791/A_qualitative_evaluation_of_non-educational_barriers_to_the_elite_professions.pdf). Among that list are Oxford and Cambridge.
I think there are two issues here. First, ignoring everything else, isn't it the right of employers to hire from the institutions they want to hire from? HR professionals at these firms are not stupid - their firms are highly successful. Isn't a logical question then why these firms would hire from these very expensive institutions, undoubtedly paying a premium for their new employees? This leads straight to the second point: Why are the firms willing to pay such a premium. Could is possibly have something to do with the quality of education the graduates receive at these institutions? The study itself briefly acknowledges that the quality of teaching and socialization is better at these elite institutions. In fact, one firm tried to leave of the institution of the CVs when making the hiring decision. Guess what? Hiring officials simply looked for other indicators of quality, such as speech and accent.
The study strongly suggests that we should focus on other indicators than the graduating institutions to identify more well-rounded individuals. I am all for this, but only if the hiring firm believes that it will result in hiring a better employee, not because it has to give everyone a shot. If the latter is the end result, then what is the point of sending your kid to an elite institution. Hey, maybe we should just abolish them!
In the extreme, why not skip the whole education thing. Just go out on the street with a sign that says "We are hiring!" and take the first 20 (or however many employees you need) who line up. Quality is apparently becoming irrelevant and firms are no longer allowed to consider it in their hiring decisions.
I think there are two issues here. First, ignoring everything else, isn't it the right of employers to hire from the institutions they want to hire from? HR professionals at these firms are not stupid - their firms are highly successful. Isn't a logical question then why these firms would hire from these very expensive institutions, undoubtedly paying a premium for their new employees? This leads straight to the second point: Why are the firms willing to pay such a premium. Could is possibly have something to do with the quality of education the graduates receive at these institutions? The study itself briefly acknowledges that the quality of teaching and socialization is better at these elite institutions. In fact, one firm tried to leave of the institution of the CVs when making the hiring decision. Guess what? Hiring officials simply looked for other indicators of quality, such as speech and accent.
The study strongly suggests that we should focus on other indicators than the graduating institutions to identify more well-rounded individuals. I am all for this, but only if the hiring firm believes that it will result in hiring a better employee, not because it has to give everyone a shot. If the latter is the end result, then what is the point of sending your kid to an elite institution. Hey, maybe we should just abolish them!
In the extreme, why not skip the whole education thing. Just go out on the street with a sign that says "We are hiring!" and take the first 20 (or however many employees you need) who line up. Quality is apparently becoming irrelevant and firms are no longer allowed to consider it in their hiring decisions.
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