« Reply #26 on: Friday 08 December 23 16:34 GMT (UK) »
At the start of this century my youngest son had finished his uni. course and was looking around for a job. He applied for one position and found he had to download, fill in and send via snail mail, a seventeen page questionnaire, which included such questions as "are you a lesbian/homosexual" and are you "British Caribbean, British Asian, etc., etc., etc.
Knowing that the then government were keen to even up the male/female roles in commerce I suspected that white males would probably be at the tail end of any offers of a job.
The sections on gender, ethnicity etc are separated from the application form and used by HR for statistical purposes. That way, they can check on whether the institution is showing (intentional or unintentional) bias in favour of, or against certain groups. I can't see that as a negative.
Rest assured that, as a white male, your son is not in a group that has any fear of under-representation or discrimination.
If I told you that the first part of the advert instructed applicants not to send details of their education, what would you say? I thought it strange and I guessed that the authority were going through the motions of advertising the posts, when in fact, they already had one of their current employees lined up for the position.
This was the era when employers had to publicise all vacancies to the outside world. Up to that point employees of large companies knew when their employers were taking on new employees , thus the applicants would be offspring or other kith and kin to an existing employee.
Aberdeen: Findlay-Shirras,McCarthy: MidLothian: Mason,Telford,Darling,Cruikshanks,Bennett,Sime, Bell: Lanarks:Crum, Brown, MacKenzie,Cameron, Glen, Millar; Ross: Urray:Mackenzie: Moray: Findlay; Marshall/Marischell: Perthshire: Brown Ferguson: Wales: McCarthy, Thomas: England: Almond, Askin, Dodson, Well(es). Harrison, Maw, McCarthy, Munford, Pye, Shearing, Smith, Smythe, Speight, Strike, Wallis/Wallace, Ward, Wells;Germany: Flamme,Ehlers, Bielstein, Germer, Mohlm, Reupke