UK introduces name-blind job applications

The British government today launched plans for name-blind application forms to tackle discrimination against ethnic minorities in universities and the workplace.
Young people leaving university and applying for positions in top companies and the Civil Service will have their names hidden on their application to prevent stereotyping.
Separately, central admissions body UCAS [Undergraduate Courses At University and College] will make its applications name blind from 2017 and will instead identify candidate by a code.
"I said in my conference speech that I want us to end discrimination and finish the fight for real equality in our country today. Today we are delivering on that commitment and extending opportunity to all," British Prime Minister David Cameron said.

"If you've got the grades, the skills and the determination this government will ensure that you can succeed," he said.
The new measures were set out at a round-table meeting at his Downing Street office.

Leading graduate employers from across the public and private sector have committed to keeping candidates' names off graduate recruitment applications, Downing Street confirmed.
These include the Civil Service, Teach First, the BBC, NHS and local government as well as top financial firms in the City of London such as HSBC, Virgin Money, KPMG and Deloitte.
Together they are responsible for employing 1.8 million people in the UK.

"I'm confident that this important step will help us build an organisation that is even more talented, diverse and effective than it is today," said UK Civil Service chief executive John Manzoni.
"UCAS is deeply committed to increasing participation from disadvantaged groups," added UCAS chief executive Mary Curnock Cook.
The admissions body said its own research helped it identify issues of under-representation at UK universities and colleges.
A study of 2008 UK admissions data by the London School of Economics (LSE) suggested ethnic minority students were less likely to get university offers - but UCAS says the proportion of ethnic minority students applying to university has risen since then.

Cameron wrote in the 'Guardian' newspaper today: "Some research has shown that top universities make offers to 55 per cent of white applicants, but only to 23 per cent of black ones.
The reasons are complex, but unconscious bias is clearly a risk.
So we have agreed with UCAS that it will make its applications name-blind, too, from 2017.
"Britain has come so far, but the long march to an equal society isn't over. Today's announcement is not the only thing we can do, but it's a milestone. And it means that a young black woman knows she'll get a fair shot when she applies for the job of her dreams.