Finance firms urge black students to apply for internships
bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-58559495
bbc.comPosted Sep 19, 2021, 9:37 PM UTC
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A new work experience programme has been launched to encourage more black students to apply for top jobs in finance firms.
The aim is to break the pattern that has seen very low numbers of black staff hired by big finance companies.
Twenty Bristol employers have taken on 46 new interns, all of them black students, as part of the pilot.
"It's a word from the industry to say we do want you, you are welcome," said 22-year-old Bristol student Oren Henry.
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Bristol firms are also offering internships in 2022, as part of the 10,000 Black Interns programme. Applications are open now to black students across the UK.
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I really don't see a problem. In my country, a big retail company did something similar exclusively for black and mixed people and only the far-right cried about it, going as far as trying to sue the company (nothing happened). Since this program is not making it exclusively for black people, but rather encouraging them to apply, no one is "hurt" by this program.
I still think corporations are doing diversity actions for diversity sake, but it's better than nothing.
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no one is "hurt" by this program.
Except ofcourse those that aren't black. If it happens even once, that someone is chosen for their skin color, then it does "hurt". If it never happens then this is just empty virtue signaling, which isn't exactly fantastic either.
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As I said, I'm sure corporations aren't doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. I also said this never stopped whites or other races to apply, it's just that the directors of these financial firms went out of their way to get more black apps. They may end up choosing a white person or just a few blacks in the end.
If this was a blacks-only thing, a white person could have lost their opportunity this time, I agree, but that's another discussion entirely.
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I disagree. They shouldn't encourage any "race" to do anything. They're finance firms, it's not their business to dable in "racial issues".
And i doubt they have many if any open internships, meaning someone will lose their spot, so they can appear politically "correct".
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Yes, let's agree to disagree. Let me just mention that I do believe that affirmative actions should be done based on the history and demographics on one country, and they shouldn't copy the affirmative actions done in the Americas. Different country, different actions.
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Ask yourself would it be fair if it was the other way?
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How can I think the other way around? The standard thing to do is to recruit people regardless of their race, but since white people usually have more experience and education, they are the ones more likely to apply and be recruited to these companies. Affirmative actions are about seeking those people that due to their race, origin, etc have less experience or education, but could still apply to these companies. This is what this program is about, from what I've read.
As I said, and what BBC tells us, this doesn't exclude whites at any moment.
edit: Yes, I know white people can also have less education or experience due to their origins, and this is a problem European companies should know before applying affirmative actions. You can't just copy affirmative actions done in the US and apply it in the UK, Europe, etc.
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How can you not? If you're being treated differently solely because of skin colour isn't that the definition of being racist?
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Did you get the part where I mention that race, origin etc are used because of their lack of experience or education? Or what I say about whites in a similar situation?
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and what BBC tells us, this doesn't exclude whites at any moment.
Where?
These internships are exclusively for black students. And there's a finite number of internships.
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There's one internship specific to black people, but does these firms at any moment mention that they aren't recruiting white people?
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No shit. This has been a thing for several years now. Diversity is all the rage. You 100% have a better shot at getting internships at Goldman, JPM etc if you are black or a woman.
This goes mostly for London. Not sure about other cities. Stockholm not so much from my experience. Well, getting more women hired is also a thing in Stockholm but not so much the focus on black people.
My friend applied to one of the American banks three times. Once as a regular person, once through the women’s portal and once through the black diversity portal.
And how did it go?
Got the job, but left after six months.
Not much of a story, but weird that they would give so many chances to apply
The suspense is killing me
I guess there isn't a focus on black people in Sweden because you have more arab immigrants, no? I think affirmative actions towards black and mixed people happen more in (European) countries that colonized Africa + US + South America.