Reasons For Discrimination in Recruitment and Selection

Solution

Discrimination in Recruitment and Selection

Introduction

According to Heinrichs (2012), discrimination is the action of prejudice or unjust
treatment towards a specific category of people with grounds of differences in sex, age, or race.
It involves favoring specific groups or individuals because they possess the same traits as theirs.
It also places the favored group above the rest, making them vulnerable to self-esteem issues.
Individuals' beliefs concerning other communities' negative and positive behaviors formulate the
basis for being discrimination. Mostly, prejudice is established on stereotypes that are mainly
based on assumptions about an individual, social status, or their community structure. The
judgment of people participating in prejudice relies on information they heard from other people
who discriminate against the group. In sociology, discrimination is an activity that occurs in
social life as an event of distinction that takes place through offending social norms or the
equality principle against a certain group of individuals but considered unacceptable by a big
population. Besides, these activities rely on norms, principles, and values based on the consensus
the community has achieved. Discrimination is divided into two distinct forms that include direct
and indirect discrimination. In the United Kingdom, there is the Equity Act 2010 that legally
protects individuals from discrimination in wider society and workplaces. However, there is still
discrimination of people despite the presence of the law preventing it due to the differences in
social status, norms, gender and race. The objective of this essay is to discuss why discrimination
still occurs in the UK when recruiting and selecting individuals, groups and organizations in
work or government projects despite the presence of the Act of Equity, which was passed to fight
discrimination in the region.

4

Literature Review

Bert Heinrichs, the author in the journal What is Discrimination and When Is It Wrong?
Highlights the concept of discrimination in an ethical view. Some rights prohibit the act of
discrimination in liberal states, a subject that citizens fail to comply with. Some arguments favor
the act by suggesting people need to act wrongfully once in a while without having any laws
regulating their beliefs towards specific subjects. It is therefore argued that the wrong acts should
remain irrelevant to the laws. However, it is difficult to support the wrong acts as there are no
reasons one can use to justify discrimination. Discrimination has consequences which affect the
community receiving the prejudice. The hiring of individuals takes a turn and bases
qualifications towards the beliefs of employers and interviewers. The actions disadvantage the
group of people due to a lack of certain traits, which is a morally illegal activity as it forms the
fundamentals of vengeance. For instance, an employer might refuse to hire women in the
company due to the feeling that they create extra costs of expenses once they are pregnant. In
this case, the employer has practiced proxy discrimination towards women with irrational
thinking of the cost incurred. An ethical perspective focuses on the respect denied to two
different people with different traits from the discriminator and whether it was morally right to
treat them as such. It is an essential ethical principle to treat like cases in a similar way and
unlike cases with a different approach.
Besides, Fell (2017) discuss the structure of the equity act of the UK in 2010, whereby
the key factors in reducing socio-economic inequalities lie in promoting or harmonizing the law
to restate its importance. Every citizen has to conduct themselves in ways that do not provoke or
harass a certain group of people concerning their gap in financial status. There is the presence of
protected characteristics of disabled persons against acts of discrimination. Service provision is

5

also detailed in the act, together with its purpose in the public domain. Premises should also cater
to all the individuals present in their proximity with equity and respect to their norms, beliefs and
values. Individuals who present their interest to join political parties should do so regardless of
their race, gender, or ethnicity, schools, are addressed to admit students based on their
qualifications, recruiting workers should also follow the criteria of qualifications within the
borders of the UK. Discrimination can occur in schools, public transport systems, care homes,
hospitals, banks, estate agents, and offices of local authorities or government departments.
The concept of discrimination in the present presents with a more dynamic and
comprehensive diversified content in documents present for professionals, politics and public
life. It is a subject that is discussed more openly nowadays but interpreted differently according
to one's knowledge and beliefs. Sociology studies show the domination and oppression expressed
when one group gets bullied due to the struggle for privileges and power. Wrong experiences and
exaggeration of feelings mainly contribute to the act. Therefore, it degrades damages and
demoralizes a community reputation and character. Heat from political and economic crisis
raises the bar for discrimination with the need to cover social inequality or eliminate
competition. Early sociologists correlate ethnocentrism with discrimination, which suggests there
exists a cultural phenomenon against deviation in opposition (Laki, 2012).
Hajian and Domingo (2013) discuss the taxonomy of defensive discrimination methods
as a challenging issue to the society. It is difficult to control both direct and indirect
discrimination at a go. First, the process begins with pre-processing the data present in an
organization to remove all the traces of discrimination to create a raw data that does not favor
any individual. The unbiased dataset is maintained as there is a hierarchy-based generalization in

6

a private manner whereby the organization practices a controlled distortion of data present in the
training of personnel for an interviewer.
Afterward, there is in-processing of data in the information mining algorithm to
accommodate everyone and provide models that are fair in the ruling. Besides, the in-processing
discrimination control method relies on the new special algorithm of data mining as old and used
data mining algorithms tend to satisfy a discriminative committee requirement. Lastly, there is a
post-processing method that results from modifying the models present in data mining to clean
the existing information or change it completely in the context of a steady and original dataset.
An example is in the case of altering an approach that is confidential by the law-based classifier
to satisfy the rules of classification in a firm, thus making the classification a basis of predictive
rules in an organization's algorithm. The whole process relies on assumptions ranging from
binary (granting or denying credit) and measurement or discovery phase of rules in the
transformation of data to suit the needs of the entire community in terms of work. Another
assumption is in discriminatory item sets that are ruled to be categorical, and the organization
develops an interest to widen and include all members of the society.
Multicultural communities prejudiced views give rise to the hierarchy of cultural groups
who benefit from various degrees of social acceptability. The majority group or the dominating
team has positive attitudes towards the employment of immigrants who happen to have higher
chances of securing a job due to their qualifications and skills in jobs. Labor market acts against
the law of the Equity Act and promotes discrimination of individuals who are in search of a job.
The group that is majorly affected by the discrimination is the low-status group as they are
looked down upon by individuals who have the job vacancies. Immigrants men suffer
discrimination due to gender biases and ethnicity, where women suffer double the trauma of

7

discrimination due to age, gender, ethnicity, pregnancy, and maternity grounds. Ethnic
hierarchies differ from one continent to the next, but Western multicultural ethnic hierarchies
seem to track a specific pattern. In Canada, immigrants from West and North European are less
discriminated against while being recruited to jobs. In contrast, immigrants from East and South
Europe are subjected to discrimination in labor firms.
Therefore, the majority of immigrants receive negative treatment in their professionals
due to the bases of ethnic hierarchy, especially those from low socio-economic status.
Recruitment discrimination seems to be directly related to the ethnicity of individuals present in
the country with very few considerations in educational qualifications and skills. Therefore,
researches have concluded that the reason for most immigrants to belong in the low socio-
economic group is because they are denied opportunities and discriminated in job positions.
Persistent discrimination against women have been reported to be increasing as they are prone to
discriminative actions due to gender, pregnancy, and maternity grounds. More so, cultural
stereotypes concerning ethnic hierarchy are more similar to women than men from the same
group. A good example of this is the study carried out on Moroccan and Senegal women proved
that this group received a lot of discrimination in French compared to men from the same origin
(Liebkind et al., 2016).

Illegal practices in recruitment and selection

Recruitment is the act of shortlisting, identifying, screening, and hiring the proper
personnel with potential human resources to fill up the necessary positions within a firm. It can
also mean the process of choosing the right personnel for the right position or qualified position
at the right time. It bases its assortment on educational qualifications, skills and abilities, and
experience of the present candidates. It is an internal activity in an organization but with the help

8

of external sources (Kapur, 2018). The internal factors necessary for the recruitment process
includes the image of the organization together with the nature of the job, recruiting policy, and
the size of the company together with resources available. Besides, the external resources include
labor laws, demographic factors, and the rate of employment, competitors, legal considerations,
and labor market availability. Through an efficient recruitment process, the organization stands
at firm grounds of productivity and a friendly environment that generates great working
relationships.
On the other hand, the selection is the act of choosing and picking the most qualified
candidate that is suitable for the job. It involves conducting interviews and evaluating a
candidate's fitness in that job by the qualities one presents. Selection is based on the current
objectives and goals of the organization. Thus the need for checking their flexibility to perform
tasks in an organized manner or little supervision arises. Recruitment is referred to as the actual
process that attracts a variety of potential candidates to apply for the vacant position (Abraham et
al., 2015). However, the selection is commonly called a negative process due to the elimination
of a good number of candidates leaving very few of them to apply for the position. Selection
takes place after the recruitment of candidates to remain with the most proficient and qualified
individuals.
Recruiter bias
Despite the presence of the equality act to give equal opportunities to all candidates in
securing jobs, recruiters, or other individuals sill engage in illegalities while choosing their
employees. To begin with, the common illegal activity that recruits practice is the act of charging
or accepting directly or indirectly any money from certain group of candidates due to their
protected characteristics (age, gender, race, pregnancy and maternity, sex orientation, disability,

9

gender reassignment and religion or belief) that is more than the specified scheduled allowance
prescribed by Labor and Employment Secretary. They do so to eliminate the candidates who
have fewer resources or are not willing to bribe their way into the firm. Besides, publishing any
force information or notice on posters or online job platforms concerning employment
suggesting any form of discrimination is considered illegal. Another illegal activity that is
involved in job recruitment is the provision of false documents of educational qualifications or
work experience to secure the position without following the right protocol laid by the
organization just because someone has the same protected characteristics with the recruiter is a
bias activity to the community (Abraham et al., 2015).
Some recruiters influence their colleagues in discrimination against a group of
individuals whom they do not like or possess different beliefs and norms from theirs. Another
illegal activity is the failure to submit reports on the nature of employment, departments involved
or placement vacancies but rather communicate them to few individuals to avoid going through
the whole process of recruiting or due to favor of specific candidates who share the same
characters as that of the head of recruitment. Substitution or altering with employment contracts
to cover a specific group of workers that belong to one race or gender is another common
activity practiced during recruiting and selection.
Withholding application letters of individuals who one feels like they should not be
recruited in the job or join an institution is another activity staff member get involved in to deny
them equal chances. Others go to the extent of allowing individuals who are not qualified to hold
a recruitment license or have the ability and skills to conduct interviews to manage the
recruitment process without considering their judgment just because they belong to a specific
race that is dominant or holds senior positions in the organization. Lastly, some organization or

10

group of managers fail to select a contracted candidate that passed the recruitment process in
their firm without any valid reason but because they have power over the candidate. In learning
institutions, principals might deny students chances to join school due to their involvement with
a certain culture they oppose or assume that they might influence the rest of the students with
their negative behaviors.
Acceptability and suitability
Acceptability is the sensitization of a program that tolerates or allows society to be
socially appropriate. Despite there being laws that govern a state towards the acceptability of
individuals, indigenous people in the UK might find it difficult to use health facilities services
where health professionals do not speak their mother tongue. Similarly, negative attitudes
towards women might lead to disrespect in cases where they seek entitlements or report
complaints. Similarly, masculine attitudes towards women majorly generate a disrespectful
environment when women seek entitlements or are recording complaints against men.
On matters related to suitability, women tend to be more discriminated against men of the
same character. To begin with, women get under paid for services they provide as they are
neglected or termed as irrelevant. A good example is in the case where women are expected to
engage in domestic chores leaving them burdened at home and with little time to engage with
other activities that generate money. Besides, women occupy less seats in parliamentary where
they are still discriminated by men for being in politics and or are vulnerable to elimination.
Fashion industry also under pays women for the same services they engage in with men because
of irrelevant reasons. Women are also deprived decent education in various communities as they
are perceived as weak and are productive when married. Therefore, they end up being recruited
to jobs that pay very little salary due to the lack of experience and educational qualifications and

11

since they are considered ineligible for higher positions or promotions. There is also
discrimination of women against debarment with a real case in justice administration. Majority
of legislatures lack proper laws that protect women against inheritance disputes whereby, men
are given priority and women are denied those rights (Heinrichs, 2012).
Indirect Discrimination

According to Rasmussen (2013), indirect discrimination is a form of prejudice where
individuals with special needs are treated similarly to those who are normal, and the treatment
harms them. It can be present in religious, racial, and gender functions in schools and
workplaces. First, an employer might introduce a rule that all the workers present in the job to be
reporting to the job on Saturdays. The rule will indirectly discriminate workers who practice
Judaism as Saturday is their holy day. As for indirect racial discrimination, schools, and work
prohibiting certain hairstyles like dreadlocks and cornrows prejudices students and workers from
African ethnicity. Another role where indirect discrimination is felt is in the case where a
company advertises a position but specifies that applicants must have UK qualifications
(Zliobaite, 2015). It serves the purpose of indirectly discriminating against other qualified
candidates whose qualifications lie outside those of the UK.
More so, indirect gender discrimination is seen in the instance where a company
advertises a vacant position with a minimum height requirement of above 165 cm. Researchers
believe that women are shorter than men; then, in this case, it is considered as an indirect
discrimination of women due to their height. Another case is that of diabetic patients being
excluded in a certain task due to safety reasons. Diabetic individuals who have their condition
under control might feel discriminated indirectly as the disease wouldn't prevent them from
working. More so, an instance where employers order workers to be extending their allocated

12

working hours will indirectly affect women, especially those with children that need to be picked
from kindergarten (Hajian & Domingo-Ferrer, 2013).
Direct Discrimination

One is said to be directly discriminated against when treated worse or different from the
rest of the group members. It might be influenced by age, disability, belief or religion, race,
gender, sexual orientation, and pregnancy together with maternity. Majorly, it is as a result of
who you are or what the discriminator thinks you are or someone your friends with or you
associate with. For instance, an employer might dismiss an employee because one has become
pregnant or given birth. They are, therefore, portraying direct discrimination towards pregnant
mothers. An instance where male employers reassign female roles and give them less active
activities due to their belief that ladies cannot handle such tasks is a direct form of discrimination
towards gender. For disabled persons, a case where they are denied entry in restaurants or
institutions due to their condition serves as a good example of direct discrimination against
disabled people. More so, denying older people jobs in an organization due to the assumption
that they are not well equipped or familiar with new technology as considered to the younger
generation is considered discrimination based on age (Ghanea, 2017).
Importance of Equality Law in Tackling Discrimination

The Equality Act of 2010 purposed to streamline and harmonize the discriminative laws
that existed in sex, race, disability, and employment. It covers age, gender reassignment,
disability, marriage and civil partnership, religion, or belief together with sex or sexual
orientation discrimination. The Act introduced the Public Sector Equity Duty, whereby all the
public authority has to put considerations when addressing the public and ensure they do not
promote favoritism in the community. It also has a set of illegal rules or it prohibits people from

13

engaging in any form of discrimination, thus protects the minority group in the UK. Another
importance of the act is it protects job seekers from discrimination present in job advertisement
posts. Therefore, they get the same treatment and opportunity. More so, the job adverts are free
from discriminative statement due to the Equity Act guidelines (Landon and Williams 2019).
The employees are also protected from inquiries that are not job-related to avoid discrimination
against individuals who are different from the business owner. Equality act also enables workers
to receive equal pay on the same services they provide, are given similar terms and conditions,
training, transfer opportunities, and redundancy procedures. There emerged more opportunities
in work, education, and allocation of government tenders to both female and male participants.
Under section 15, disabled persons are protected against any form of discrimination, and
citizens are urged to treat them fairly regardless of mischievous activities that arise from their
condition. It also consolidates together with extending duties upon suppliers and employers of
goods and services that ensure reasonable adjustments for people living with disabilities. The act
prohibits acts of harassment in three major categories, namely, sexual harassment, unfavorable
treatment to people who reject to be sexually violated, or gender reassigned together with
harassment related to different characteristics or behaviors of individuals. Victimization is also
covered in the act where it is highly prohibited, and the Equity Act protects citizens from
unlawful rulings or being forced to testify in court proceedings and being victimized over an act
one did not commit.
It also protects individuals of all ages from any form of discrimination, be it in age,
gender, and race difference. Everyone is given equal opportunity to justify themselves in all
situations. The act has clear definitions of a transsexual person and protects their rights in the
public, social gatherings, and in securing jobs. It as well helps married persons to secure jobs at

14

the place of their choice and rejects the denial of employment on the grounds of civil partnership
or marriage. Pregnant mothers are also beneficiaries of the Equity act as prohibits discrimination
of them in work allocation together with job recruitment and selection. People from different
nationalities can now enjoy the same rights. At the same time, there is recruitment or selection of
candidates as it will be based on qualifications and abilities equal to those of UK origins.
Bisexual, gay and lesbians are also distinguished as normal members of the society and are
treated equally due to the Equality Act rules on sexual orientation (section 12). On employment
tribunals, the act ensures there is lawfully time allocation of each proceeding, which is expected
to be commenced within three months. Lastly, disadvantaged groups are provided with equal
participation in government projects regardless of their disadvantages, their needs are met
(Manthorpe and Moriarty, 2013).

Evidence on How to Avoid Unfair Recruitment and Selection Decisions
The process of recruiting and selection faces a lot of challenges, especially when
recruiting workers or giving out government projects. To ensure there is equity when selecting
candidates and recruiting them to work, one must hold interviews that are similar for all the ages,
races, and gender who present their interest in the vacancy. Select the candidates objectively
according to the best-fit candidate to perform the roles of the task (Rao and Bhoganadam, 2014).
As an interviewer, avoid questions that are based on the protected characters of the participant.
After recruiting candidates, select the best and suitable candidates that present with exemplary
qualifications without looking at their race or gender. Before beginning the recruitment process,
decide what skills an applicant should have to avoid basing decisions of those candidates that
present with similar character and discriminating those that one feels they are different.
Preparing for the interview is another key factor that should be employed to help in the fight

15

against discrimination while recruiting. Candidates should be treated differently based on their
nature or sensitivity since people applying for the same position might not be similar. It applies
in the bases of disability, women, and people with medical conditions (Krinitcyna and
Menshikova, 2015).
One needs to practice diversity in the workplace, schools, public transport systems, and
government offices. Writing a review policy on anti-discrimination rules and adhering to them
every time one is involved in either selection or recruitment of candidates is another guideline
that will ensure discrimination activities are dealt with. Record your reasons as to why you chose
the candidates after the recruiting process to help in future decisions. After selecting the
candidates, inquire about their medical conditions and disabilities once you have given them the
job offer and do so in a friendly way that does not suggest discrimination. Offer feedback to
unsuccessful candidates and highlight the reason as to why they failed to be shortlisted and invite
them for future vacancies. As discussed under the Equality Act 2010, express respect, dignity,
and fairness to everyone who showed interest in the recruitment process to help promote good
relations in the community (Liebkind et al., 2016).
Conclusion

In summary, discrimination is the act of showing prejudice over a certain group due to
their differences in protected character. The protected characters involve age, gender, race, and
disability, whereby, in recruiting candidates, employers might show favoritism based on these
characters. On basses of discrimination, one group feels disadvantaged and oppressed while
another group feels powerful and dominates the inferior group. Majorly, recruitment of
candidates is done in favor of a particular group regardless of the presence of the Equity act of
2010 in the UK. The Act protects every individual from all forms of discrimination and provides

16

equal opportunities to them. In selecting candidates, where there is the employment of
discrimination, the selected candidate ends up unworthy of the position, which lowers the
productivity of the organization. The importance of this Act is that it protects and promotes
uniformity in job vacancies, interviews, and government positions. It also accommodates the
rights and respect of minorities in seeking recruitment and selection processes, thus encourages
growth in institutions and diversity. With the presence of the Act, everyone gets coverage, and
incidences of discrimination are prohibited. They are considered illegal, thus attract punishment
and prevent people from indulging in such activities. To protect individuals from discriminative
selection, one must consider candidates that present with the best-expected qualifications,
experience, and position's experience. The act of discrimination destroys the community and
lowers their self-esteem, together with promoting enormity among the group that feels inferior
and one that dominates in the society. Discriminating people based on protected characteristics
discourages diversification and participation in the community activities that decrease the
production rate. A discriminative environment harbors hate and anger, promoting animosity
among the community members, a matter that might increase the rate of crime in the nation.

17

References

Abraham, M., Kaliannan, M., Mohan, A. V., & Thomas, S. (2015). A review of Smes
recruitment and selection dilemma: Finding a 'Fit'. The Journal of Developing
Areas, 49(5), 335-342. https://doi.org/10.1353/jda.2015.0058
Baldwin, J. (2017). Culture, prejudice, racism, and discrimination. Oxford Research
Encyclopedia of
Communication. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.164
Fell, E. (2017). Against discrimination: Equality Act 2010
(UK). https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2017.01.25
Foster, B., & Norton, P. (2012). Educational Equality for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children
and Young People in the UK. https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/
Ghanea, N. (2017). Religion, equality, and non-discrimination. Religion and Equality Law, 95-
108. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315088945-6
Hajian, S., & Domingo-Ferrer, J. (2013). Direct and indirect discrimination prevention
methods. Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, 241-
254. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30487-3_13
Heinrichs, B. (2012). What is discrimination and when is it morally wrong? Jahrbuch für
Wissenschaft und Ethik, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110192476.1.97
Kapur, R. (2018). Recruitment and Selection. Recruitment and
Selection. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323829919_Recruitment_and_Selection
Krinitcyna, Z., & Menshikova, E. (2015). Discrimination issues in the process of personnel
selection. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 166, 12-
17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.12.475

18

Laki, I. (2012). The concept of discrimination nowadays. The concept of discrimination
nowadays .  http://real.mtak.hu/25124/7/concept_of_discrimination_nowadays.pdf
Landon, M., & Williams, T. (2019). The Equality Act 2010. Fitness for Work, 50-
84. https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780198808657.003.0003
Liebkind, K., Larja, L., & Brylka, A. (2016). Ethnic and gender discrimination in recruitment:
Experimental evidence from Finland. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 4(1),
403-426. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i1.433
Manthorpe, J., & Moriarty, J. (2013). Examining day centre provision for older people in the
UK using the Equality Act 2010: Findings of a scoping review. Health & Social Care in
the Community, 22(4), 352-360. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12065
Rao, D. S., & Bhoganadam, S. D. (2014). A STUDY ON RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION
PROCESS OF SAI GLOBAL YARNTEX (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED. A STUDY
ON RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS OF SAI GLOBAL YARNTEX
(INDIA) PRIVATE
LIMITED. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Syamala_Bhoganadam/publication/2682
09906_A_Study_of_Recruitment_and_Selection_process_in_Sai_Global_Yarntex_India
_Private_Limited/links/5472e4db0cf2d67fc035d084.pdf
Rasmussen, K. L. (2013). Indirect Discrimination. Indirect
Discrimination. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299782604_Indirect_Discrimination
Zliobaite, I. (2015). A survey on measuring indirect discrimination in machine learning. A
survey on measuring indirect discrimination in machine
learning. https://arxiv.org/abs/1511.00148

Place your order now for a similar paper and have exceptional work written by our team of experts to guarantee you A Results

Why Choose US:

21+ years experience on custom writing

90% Return Client

Urgent 3 Hrs Delivery

Your Privacy Guaranteed

Unlimited Free Revisions

Money Back Guarantee