To Think that Grad & Apprenticeships are now only for Diversity Candidates

[reallyreallycrazy]

Slight hyperbole but not far off.

Yes, of course I suppose my DS should be appreciative of his 'white privilege' (I do detest the term though), but he's been applying to over 100 x spring & summer internships and apprenticeships.

Invariably, he finds that lots of programmes are only open to black/female/social mobility/ND candidates. In one recent case - a global consultancy - there were NO openings for anyone outside of these categories.

And today, on LinkedIn, he forwarded me several links from leading banks reaching out about apprenticeships etc. In most photos, you might be lucky to spot 1-2 white males and in the video of one, there were not a single white male (or female for that matter).

I get that these firms need to do outreach to disadvantaged groups but if you look at the population level percentage of the various group categories, this really has swung too far the other way.

I get that many of these organisations have years to catch up with diversity hires but to try to rebalance in such an aggressive way and in a short space of time, makes it very difficult for young, white males (unless they have qualified for 'free school meals') to get a foot in the door which is especially tough in an incredibly tough grad market as it is.

I work in Banking and no, it is not “the reality”.

I think the mistake (white men usually) make in these discussions is it’s about THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST

employment rarely needs the (subjective) best. There are many, many young people who could equally smash the shit out of a grad scheme at Deloitte’s/ slaughter and may/ Tesco/ Royal Mail etc etc.

they don’t need to be the best in their school or attending the best university. There are thousands of 22 year olds who could be brilliant future employees

companies are allowed to access those people.

what you’re really pissed off about what the the social contract as you perceptive it has been broken.

4A* tick, oxbridge tick, DofE tick and yet those bastards have the grad scheme to some care leaver from Cardiff WTF?!? It wasn’t worth all the hard work after all

the documentary “try harder” is a perfect demonstration of this- Asian kids hyper achieving then finding that Ivy League doesn’t want them because they’re over
achieving asians

the issue is commonly exaggerated but maybe rooted in some truth, or at least perception of truth.

Totally agree with you OP.

My (white) sons have applied to a few things where points were added or taken away according to background. They didn’t stand a chance as they are white boys from a middle class background. Even their state schooling was disregarded.

In certain places, ethnic minorities are now over represented compared to their population share (Oxbridge, law). I’m all for fair play and for giving people a chance — but this feels like the opposite.

So does DH. For years he was the only brown person. It's changed a bit now but still overwhelmingly white.

My point above

This is the question what is the selection process.

Maybe ethnic minorities are overrepresented because certain professions are now so in demand that they need 4 A stars. Which few white people get.

Positive discrimination is illegal in the UK under the Equality Act so if your DS is really being excluded from applying for jobs then he should speak to a union or a lawyer.

Positive Discrimination vs Positive Action

My daughter heard some boys moaning about their very exclusive private school enrolling Black and Asian children to increase the number of children they get into Oxbridge. This was aimed at her and the Indian girl she was sitting with. They were only 2 weeks in the school; and she has counted less than 10 Black students and only slightly more South Asian pupils in a year of 150 students.

Suffice to say, they have had their end of half-term tests and both girls' grades have left them in the dust in all the subjects they take together. Well, that settled that nicely.

Didn’t you point out that their process was illegal? I can’t imagine not doing this as a responsible leader

Also those articles linked by PP say white boys do not achieve because of the breakdown of marriages and absent dads

That is hardly the fault of minorities, is it?

But they don't.

Where did I say white?

What is he looking for and where is he looking? I work in the finance sector and our grad schemes are live now. The majority of applications are from white male candidates but we hire based on the person being the best person for the role.

I would imagine that all the photos your son forwarded you will just be stock photos pulled off the internet 'to show a diverse work force'. The reality is probably very different.

I think the difficulty for many white males is that they assume coming out of a decent uni with a decent degree will be enough to get them a very good job - when actually they are going to need examples of teamwork and leadership skills that they probably won't have got from their academics. They need to have had a job, volunteer, relevant work experience, lead a society, organise events, be part of a sports team, have amazing examples of relevant projects done out of their own interest, have completed other short courses on the side - in other words they have to stand out beyond their academics as they can't answer every question at interview based on the degree they did.

DS is doing a degree apprenticeship and is ND but is working with lots of white m/f apprentices. A lot of the apprenticeships he applied for he didn't even say he has ASD because he had such a bad experience with some where he had said it - even ones that were supposedly disability confident (obviously just a tick box exercise). He never came across a single apprenticeship though that was aimed purely at minorities. DS had a lot of extracurriculars and projects of his own which were of much more interest at interview than his academics and these were what got him his apprenticeship.

I learned to lie on applications not only am I straight and white but also a teen mum drop out who at 20 when my child started school had zero qualifications or work experience (some cv!)

After many rejections I began to say I was a mixed race bisexual (how do they prove otherwise?) and got a job straight away

Personally I think if people want equality then it should be a genuinely totally level playing field - at the moment in some quarters it’s becoming like apartheid in reverse- don’t bother applying if you are white and/or straight etc - and I say this as a centre left voter - see also today on news in our industry that someone had opened a ‘black artists only’ record shop or the’MOBO awards ( music of black origin) - can you imagine the absolute hoo ha if someone had set up ‘the music of white origin awards’ , or a white artists only record shop ?? No wonder we end up with a ton of people with Reform type views - it’s not as if black artists and music are totally under represented in the industry -they dominate in some sectors.

This is a really good point, and there is also a lot of evidence that diversity in itself improves organisational performance because you access a wider range of approaches and perspectives, leading to greater flexibility and creativity. I have seen this for myself working in teams that are made up entirely of certain demographics - there's nothing wrong with anyone's individual performance but a monoculture quickly develops and makes it harder for anyone "different" to join, and particular ways of doing things become entrenched regardless of whether there is a better way. So what does "best" mean in that context anyway?

It’s not about whose fault it is. It’s about who needs extra help and how that help should be given. For many organisations it’s much easier to focus on ethnicity because it’s easier to measure than social class. Social class is a far bigger cause of disadvantage though.

It isn't illegal. It's permissible in a tie break situation where current work population doesn't reflect the make up of society.

It's still ridiculous. Even though it worked to my advantage.

Did you bollocks 😂

Most of our apprentices (ambulance service) are white, fairly even split male/female.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-statistic-that-explains-why-white-working-class-children-do-so-badly/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/30/why-white-children-fail-the-race-divide-in-english-schools/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57558746

Really? The diversity monitoring form for most jobs is separate to the application form.

You know what, that's fair enough. I do think social class should be looked at.

That said, it's very frustrating being viewed as a diversity hire when you have spent 6 years hardly going out, not dating, not drinking, not being distracted from your academic goals.