Work and Professional Development - Essay Example

ting” on the basis of race, colour, gender or disability as opposed to “affirming” the entry of disadvantaged sections into colleges and institutes of higher education. The main point of contention is the perceived reduction in quality and compromise with merit that equality initiatives are supposed to bring to the organisation in a market economy. Since the very basis of any firm in a market economy is the assumption of merit and reliance on the structure that fosters a culture of meritocracy, the debate over the place on merit takes on an edge.

What is apparent from the above is that firms in the current market economy have not really been doing enough to positively help the people. Instead they are just paying lip service to hiring and recruiting their employees from different backgrounds. As the following report from a newspaper in Wales shows, “Women with young children are more likely to be discriminated against at work than people with disabilities or from an ethnic minority group, a major UK equality report revealed yesterday.

According to the Equalities Review, which was commissioned by Tony Blair, a mother with a child younger than 11 is 45% less likely to be employed than a man with a partner. The review has led to calls for businesses and employers in Wales to be more family-friendly and promote fairer employment practices. Chairman of the review Trevor Phillips, who is head of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights, said inequality was still a major problem in the UK and was now preventing the majority of people from achieving their potential.

The review revealed that, in a survey of recruitment agencies, more than 70% of the 122 companies had been asked by clients to avoid hiring women who were pregnant, or of childbearing age. The report found disabled people were 29% less likely to be in employment than non-disabled people, and that Pakistani and Bangladeshi women were 30% less likely to be in work than white women of similar