| According to the Race for Opportunity campaign, | | | | done much for their bottom line, which continues to |
| despite being highly represented at UK universities - | | | | deteriorate." |
| one in six UK university students are from a black, | | | | Black Americans, he says, "are bearing a |
| Asian or other minority ethnic background - these | | | | disproportionate burden of joblessness. Communities |
| graduates are failing to find employment as easily as | | | | of color are being crushed economically and the |
| their white counterparts. In fact, 56.3% of minority | | | | national news media have not fully focused on the |
| students who graduated in 2007-08 found work within | | | | carnage. The official unemployment rate for blacks is |
| a year compared with 66% of white students. | | | | 16.2 percent and could well pass 17 percent before the |
| Nothing surprising there, you might think - racism is still | | | | year is out. The real jobless rate is far more ghastly." |
| alive and well despite our best efforts to eradicate it or | | | | What could high confidence levels have achieved |
| pretend otherwise. But a comment by Dr Rob | | | | against this tide of relentless exclusion? |
| Berkeley, director of the Runnymede Trust, suggesting | | | | The Stereotype Game |
| that "such students still too often lack either the | | | | And then, of course, there's the stereotype game. |
| networks or confidence to enter certain professions | | | | Knowing people have a negative perception of you |
| and may not have the support they need to develop | | | | based on a stereotype can throw anyone off. |
| the necessary attributes" is what got me rather more | | | | When acclaimed US social psychologist Dr. Claude |
| hot and bothered. | | | | Steele tried to make sense of the fact that the |
| The Name Game | | | | national college dropout rate for Black students was |
| Black students born and raised in the UK who have | | | | 20 to 25% higher than that for whites, even when |
| successfully navigated their way through school and | | | | those students were just as well-prepared for college, |
| university, leaving with grades on a par with their peers | | | | had no socioeconomic disadvantages and managed to |
| have, I would argue, no natural propensity to lack | | | | get excellent SAT scores, his research threw up |
| confidence. If, indeed, a lack of confidence arises, it is | | | | some interesting results. |
| when intelligent confident students find, time after time, | | | | According to Steele, one of the major barriers holding |
| that their hard earned qualifications and extra curricular | | | | back the achievement of black people and other |
| achievements cut no ice with employers who are | | | | underrepresented groups is a phenomenon he calls |
| predisposed to avoid hiring them. | | | | "stereotype threat," the threat of being viewed through |
| Black students born and raised in the UK who have | | | | the lens of a negative stereotype or the fear of doing |
| successfully navigated their way through school and | | | | something that would inadvertently confirm that |
| university, leaving with grades on a par with their peers | | | | stereotype. |
| have, I would argue, no natural propensity to lack | | | | In his book, "Whistling Vivaldi," Steele talks about the |
| confidence. | | | | research studies he has conducted over the past 20 |
| New analysis from the Institute for Public Policy | | | | years to test his theory on stereotype threat and the |
| Research (ippr) shows that almost half (48%) of Black | | | | role it plays in academic achievement and |
| people aged between 16 and 24 in the UK are now | | | | underachievement among blacks and women. |
| unemployed - compared to the rate of unemployment | | | | One of the major barriers holding back the |
| among white young people which stands at 20%. ippr's | | | | achievement of black people and other |
| analysis also shows that mixed ethnic groups have | | | | underrepresented groups is a phenomenon he calls |
| seen the biggest overall increases in unemployment, | | | | "stereotype threat," the threat of being viewed through |
| rising from 21% in March 2008 to 35% in November | | | | the lens of a negative stereotype. |
| 2009. | | | | In essence, Steele's theory is that black people face |
| Are we so sure that this is about a lack of networks | | | | the constant threat of being considered racially inferior. |
| and confidence and not about a systemic hindrance to | | | | Knowing this stereotype causes black students to |
| equality? | | | | quickly learn that succeeding will be difficult. This |
| The issue is not confined to the UK. A recent US | | | | anxiety about being judged stereotypically, he says, |
| study showed that black graduates are struggling | | | | particularly when that stereotype is negative, can |
| harder in the American job market relative to their | | | | seriously hinder performance. |
| white counterparts in this downturn. According to | | | | In one study, Steele asked two groups of black and |
| figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the | | | | white college students to take a 30-minute test made |
| unemployment rate for black male college graduates | | | | up of questions from the verbal section of the |
| 25 and older in 2009 has been nearly twice that of | | | | Graduate Record Examination. When one group was |
| white male college graduates - 8.4% compared with | | | | told that the test would measure their intellectual ability, |
| 4.4%. | | | | black students underperformed dramatically. But when |
| Even Asian and Hispanic managers tended to hire | | | | another group was told the test could not measure |
| more whites and fewer blacks than Black managers | | | | intellectual ability, Blacks and whites performed at |
| did, according to a study published this year in The | | | | virtually the same level. |
| Journal of Labor Economics. | | | | "When you feel under threat, you know that based on |
| Recent studies have shown how some recruiters and | | | | an identity you have, something bad could happen," |
| employers collude to exclude minority students from | | | | says Steele. "You don't know whether in fact it will |
| the workplace. Investigations carried out by the British | | | | happen. You don't know precisely what could happen |
| government using fake CVs with foreign sounding | | | | or when or where it could happen. It's like having a |
| names revealed that foreigners (or those whose | | | | snake loose in the house. It's a terrible feeling. When |
| names imply that they are) are far less likely to get an | | | | you are in this situation, most of your cognitive |
| interview, never mind a job. | | | | resources are devoted to vigilance." |
| The name game is also a feature of the US | | | | Steele said this anxiety often manifests itself in |
| employment market, as evidenced by a study | | | | psychological and physiological ways, including |
| published several years ago in The American | | | | distraction, increased body temperature and increased |
| Economic Review titled "Are Emily and Greg More | | | | heart rate, all of which diminish performance levels. |
| Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?" This found that | | | | "If you care about what you are doing, the prospect of |
| applicants with black-sounding names received 50% | | | | being judged is upsetting and distressing and disturbing," |
| fewer responses to their applications than those with | | | | he said. |
| white-sounding names. | | | | So, is unemployment among black students a lack of |
| While laws exist to deal with provable cases of | | | | confidence or a systemic assault of negative energy |
| discrimination, many of those surveyed pointed out that | | | | on an otherwise healthy ego? |
| the discrimination is rarely overt, with "surprised looks | | | | The Blame Game |
| and offhand comments" when the interviewer actually | | | | When it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and |
| met them, as well as truncated interviews and a | | | | quacks like a duck, it is a duck and nothing else. No-one |
| sudden lack of interest telling its own tale. | | | | doubts the value of networking when it comes to |
| Having the confidence level of Simon Cowell offers no | | | | finding a job. But a lack of confidence is what I would |
| protection against these attitudes. | | | | take issue with. |
| The Fame Game | | | | Because, as numerous studies prove, when all the |
| When some minorities attain a high profile, it can prove | | | | variables such as networking skills and the choice of |
| a double-edged sword for others of that race. Of | | | | university are put aside, sometimes not succeeding is |
| course you can make it, many will cry. Just look at | | | | just down to plain old racism. |
| Lewis Hamilton, or Oprah Winfrey, or the President of | | | | Much as there is a lot people can do to improve their |
| the United States. | | | | chances of finding a good job, there comes a time |
| Having the confidence level of Simon Cowell offers no | | | | when all the networking and interview skills in the world |
| protection against these attitudes. | | | | come to nought if you are facing a bigot. For these |
| But, as Bob Herbert, the African-American columnist | | | | unlucky applicants, it's not a question of networks or |
| for the New York Times wrote, "The election of a | | | | confidence but skin colour and the wrong name. It then |
| black president may have been important to | | | | becomes too easy to blame these people for the |
| African-Americans for myriad reasons, but it hasn't | | | | plight in which they find themselves. |