Employers hate private schools?

[5329871e]

In the fortunate position of choosing between one of the best private schools in the country, vs one of the best non-selective state schools in the country. Private school is affordable with sacrifices, which we’re happy to make, and it has all the expected advantages of better funding and selective intake, but the state school is also lovely.

To avoid this thread being bogged down by all the nuances of our choice, I’ll keep the question simple:

DH is convinced that employers dislike privately educated applicants. All things being equal, they’ll pick the state educated person. In other words, job applicants are disadvantaged by a private education.

Is this true? If so, how much better does a privately educated applicant have to be, for you to pick them?

Yep that's why they're all doing so badly

Depends massively on the job/employer, but there's surely a reason most of the people in senior and influential positions and well-paid jobs in this country went to private schools and a handful of Universities.

As someone who has recruited I couldn’t give a stuff what school someone has been to, it’s their exam results etc that I’m interested in. I wouldn’t even know whether a school was private or state unless it’s an obvious one like Eton or Roedean!

I don't put my school on my CV, just my grades. How would they know?

I don’t believe this is true at all except when it’s down to network rather then school specifically

Depends on the job surely? And to be honest, I wouldn't want to work for someone who dismisses an applicant on any such criteria. I work in a private school with a non selective (academically) intake and its a lovely place with v small classes and pastoral groups. The kids have access to so many extra activities... Not so much facilities just teachers' time. If I could possibly afford to send my kids there I would.

Can you specify what the voting options mean?

In other words, job applicants are disadvantaged by a private education

Yes and especially if they are also male and white. Well known oppressed group.

@C8H10N4O2

In other words, job applicants are disadvantaged by a private education

Yes and especially if they are also male and white. Well known oppressed group.

I haven’t put my school or sixth form college on my CV ever. I don’t put my Uni on there either anymore, but I’m quite old.

Having been privately educated though, and not at a ‘top’ one I would agree that some people have a prejudice about it.

My school isn't on my CV.

No one has ever asked where I went to school (privately educated from preschool through secondary). I've never put it on my CV. It's never come up in an interview and I can't even recall speaking about it casually with work colleagues ever. I have been on recruitment panels and if someone had included their secondary school on their CV (I can't imagine they did), I definitely would not have been bothered to look up whether it was private or state.

Is your dh the sort who otherwise feels like he is 'punished' for his privilege? I have a family member who regularly moans about how hard life is and how unfair that he pays so much in taxes and how the system is disadvantaged against wealthy white men (he makes £250,000 a year, with a bonus of usually around £100,000). We just roll our eyes every time he gets ranting.

It doesn’t bother me at all, however we are getting a LOT of pressure at work to hire from disadvantaged groups.

Your husband needs to go back to school. He is deluded.

@girlmom21

My school isn't on my CV.

Good point, mine isn’t either

Also have you had a windfall?

Before Xmas you were posting about the hardships of not being able to send a child private. Quite a jump from there to the fees of 'one of the best private schools in the country" with "sacrifices".

@Rrrob

It doesn’t bother me at all, however we are getting a LOT of pressure at work to hire from disadvantaged groups.

How would these disadvantaged groups be defined - is it based on schools, race or culture, etc?

@C8H10N4O2

Also have you had a windfall?

Before Xmas you were posting about the hardships of not being able to send a child private. Quite a jump from there to the fees of 'one of the best private schools in the country" with "sacrifices".

I love it when someone has enough time to do this

@mindutopia

No one has ever asked where I went to school (privately educated from preschool through secondary). I've never put it on my CV. It's never come up in an interview and I can't even recall speaking about it casually with work colleagues ever. I have been on recruitment panels and if someone had included their secondary school on their CV (I can't imagine they did), I definitely would not have been bothered to look up whether it was private or state.

Is your dh the sort who otherwise feels like he is 'punished' for his privilege? I have a family member who regularly moans about how hard life is and how unfair that he pays so much in taxes and how the system is disadvantaged against wealthy white men (he makes £250,000 a year, with a bonus of usually around £100,000). We just roll our eyes every time he gets ranting.

1st paragraph - good point!

2nd paragraph - actually he’s state educated and I was private, but we’re just trying to make the best choice for our kids

Employers don’t ‘hate’ private schools. This sounds like the type of rubbish people spout along with ‘why are the disadvantaged being helped? What about the private school kids?’

Schemes that encourage hiring disadvantaged people aren’t motivated by their hatred of the privileged. Although I’m sure you know that and just felt like a goady thread.

A thread for belligerent bun-hurlers if ever there was one.

job applicants are disadvantaged by a private education.

I doubt you do

actually he’s state educated and I was private

And has it ever impacted your career? Surely you're much better placed to comment than he is?

I think work at a place that recruits large numbers of graduates and school leavers. We interview blind - all we know about the applicant before we conduct the interview is their name. They have to have met the application criteria/passed initial screening and psychometric tests to get to that point of course. And if all other things are equal in terms of how well they interview. we do look for diversity characteristics (in their widest sense including, most recently, neurodiversity). The screening does make use of contextualised academic data, so it evaluates academic results in the context of the educational institutions at which the results were gained (eg BBB at a state school in a deprived area would be considered a better achievement than BBB in a private school or selective grammar).