Ethnic minorities...

[PatricksRum]

Do you answer monitoring questions e.g. What is your ethnicity?

It still makes me feel very uncomfortable and I refuse to provide an answer as I probably will be treated differently.

YABU - I answer
YANBU - I also refuse

I'm fine ticking Mixed most of the time (my accent gives my not Britishness away anyways) but I have noticed my DDs both use 'prefer not to say' more often than they tick any ethnicity options.

DD1 particularly, occasionally she also ticks mixed, but generally prefers not to say and I do think that is in part because she's had the most shite out of my four kids from her peers saying shite like she's 'not really British'.

My DSs on the other hand always pick an ethnicity. DS1 has also had some shite like DD1, if not to the same extent, but he never selects Mixed. He always picks White British, which his father is and I have always given as option for them. I think this might also be a reaction, just in a different way, though how this impacts data collection when mixed kids pick one ethnicity has been discussed by far smarter minds than me.

@DeflatedGinDrinker

Theres absolutely no way you would be treated differently by my organisation OP. Why would you be?!

This isn’t necessarily true. OP may be concerned because she has an English sounding name and is not white so people treat her one way on the phone and completely differently in person. It happens. Don’t be so dismissive.

I refuse to answer if possible. I’m white and I’m aware that positive discrimination is permitted, and it disadvantages me. Lots of opportunities will reject me for being white because I don’t “tick the diversity box”.

I answer but I refuse to engage in any form that asks for gender. If it’s a paper form I scribble out the word gender and write ‘you mean sex’ next to it 😬

@Flaunch

I answer but I refuse to engage in any form that asks for gender. If it’s a paper form I scribble out the word gender and write ‘you mean sex’ next to it 😬

To quote PP @ClaudiaWankleman

Don't hijack a thread where people are discussing potential racism for other issues.

I work in a sector that is subsidised and these forms are used for reporting purposes. It allows us and our donors to know who we are reaching and if there are any groups which are under represented. Which then allows us to develop strategies to reach the under represented groups.

I suspect Google knows more about you, than can be determined from one of these forms. Is there a particular reason that you think you would be treated differently.

I live in the Netherlands and because diversity monitoring is not really a thing here, under representation of groups are rarely acknowledged or challenged. Report after report has shown that people are routinely filtered out during the recruitment stage because of surnames and or photos, with the most common ‘explanation’ given, that people from diverse backgrounds don’t apply. Diversity monitoring would expose the lie behind that ‘explanation’.

I refuse to answer if possible. I’m white and I’m aware that positive discrimination is permitted, and it disadvantages me. Lots of opportunities will reject me for being white because I don’t “tick the diversity box”.

Good for you, the amount of times where I have been the only person of colour in a room is a testament to how endemic these positive discrimination are .

I answer.
I am an ethnic minority I'm not ashamed of that at all.if I'm judged or treated differently in a bad way because if it then that's in them ,I'm proud of who I am .

Working in finance, I believe in the power of data even if it puts me at a disadvantages, so I always tick the relevant box for me.

It's amusing when certain results around diversity are published and people do the faux big eyes and exclaim "oh that can't be right" IT'S ALL IN THE DATA!!!

I do if medical as it can be usual

Otherwise I leave it blank

@NurseButtercup that is awful. I'd have asked who to complain to.

@Flaunch

I answer but I refuse to engage in any form that asks for gender. If it’s a paper form I scribble out the word gender and write ‘you mean sex’ next to it 😬

Ok but we're talking about ethnic minorities.

To give another view, I work in widening participation in HE and collect this data about the students on my programmes. I just explain it as the people who’ve paid for today would love to know more about what we’re doing and who we’re helping, and who we haven’t reached so we can help them too. Most students disclose their ethnicity.

But also having that data means I can promote appropriate opportunities for them - so where a local Arabic centre is offering mentoring, or a scholarship for BAME students. I apply the same logic to students who declare disabilities, care status etc. So it can have some clear benefits to disclose.

I'd feel quite uncomfortable with hearing some off that @SometimesRavenSometimesParrot.

The 'people who have paid for today...' stuff would make me feel patronised and as if I'm supposed to be grateful.

The 'I can signpost you to the local Arabic Center' thing would get my back up because it assumes that with an Arabic background I want support that focuses on my ethnicity not anything else about me.

I do totally get that you have good intentions. But it may not be heard that way, which is why people are sometimes wary of disclosing.

I agree that positive discrimination can be concerning as was mentioned upthread.

@mustlovegin

I agree that positive discrimination can be concerning as was mentioned upthread.

Why do you find it concerning?

@emuloc please don’t invite anymore malarkey onto this thread :)

I answer the question.

My 10 year old is of the opinion that its none of their business.

Sorry Jings, I know I should just ignore that type of nonsense.

@emuloc no worries, I know it’s tempting. 😉

@Paulinna

I refuse to answer if possible. I’m white and I’m aware that positive discrimination is permitted, and it disadvantages me. Lots of opportunities will reject me for being white because I don’t “tick the diversity box”.

That's really not how this wprks amd positive discriminate is NOT permitted outside of specific circumstances such as genuine occupational requirement

I’m not but my children are and no I don’t answer on anything.

I want time to grab my OFRS and be gone when all the wokeness leads to the rise of the far right.

Not actually joking.

My last organisation changed three things about these forms.

1. Asked at the end of the service not the beginning. We did lose data about people who dropped out, which was concerning because maybe we were losing people because of discrimination. But many more people were happy to fill the forms when they knew and trusted us. Anecdotally we thought drop out was not an issue but it was concerning.
2. We made the forms much more 'tell us about you' rather than 'tick this box we've defined'. That helped.
3. We had a script which explained why we asked, why certain questions and that they were the fewest we could. Most importantly, proper informed consent.

If we provided a good service, people filled them in more and wrote more on ALL the forms, feedback, monitoring and all. Shit service, shit forms.

I want time to grab my OFRS

What's an OFRS?

OFRS is an Oh Fuck Rucksack. It’s what you have packed full of essentials and irreplaceables by the door ready to grab and go when the Cossacks/Nazis/zombies are coming.