If you’ve not seen it already, I strongly recommend watching the BBC documentary called ‘How to Break into the Elite’ which examines the influence of social class on success in the job market. It was the source of my inspiration for this article looking at the relationship between Social Class, BAME (black, asian and minority ethnic) and your career prospects within public affairs and PR. Is there anything we can do as recruiters/hiring managers to make it a fairer and more meritocratic system based on intelligence, talent and character rather than someone’s background or are we doing fine as it is?
About one-third of the population is categorised as working or lower middle class. Yet only 10% of the workforce in leading professions is represented by this group, particularly in ‘client facing’ roles. Studies have shown even highly qualified graduates (those with a 2:1 or 1st) were less likely to succeed in the graduate job market compared with someone with a 2:2 who comes from an upper middle class or wealthy elite background. We’ll look at two factors below which may explain these phenomena.
Firstly, many commentators will argue that usually a brand hires to reflect itself and those with a ‘posher’ or public school background tend to sound more intelligent and knowledgeable and in turn, their arguments will be perceived to be more persuasive and valuable. This, in turn, leads to higher fees/income and trust from clients. This is reinforced by society as a whole and helps explains the potential commercial business drivers and mechanisms in play.
Secondly, the majority of the elite professions (potentially including public affairs and PR) have a significant proportion of individuals from affluent backgrounds and are frequently privately educated. Such individuals grow up accustomed to their own set of ‘social codes’ of engagement with their peers. Those from a working class background grow up used to a different set of ‘social codes’. These differences can impact performance at and during recruitment processes or interviews where candidates are unsure of how to relate to or engage with their interviewer who comes from a different background. This can create the feeling of an ‘imposter’ syndrome. Making them feel nervous, less confident and unable to perform to the best of their abilities. This works both ways – for the potential interviewer too – they may subconsciously seek to find common ground with interviewees and whether aware of it or not it is easier and more comfortable to relate to people much like yourself. An example might be when you discuss interests/hobbies on someone’s CV – things like sailing, skiing, etc, which are not sports/pursuits normally accessible to students in most state schools or at home.
Statistically, those from BAME backgrounds are more likely to come from working class/lower middle class backgrounds therefore a lot of the conversations and lobbying can focus around BAME representation. However, in theory, if you have someone from a BAME background that is seen to be part of the upper middle classes or elite they will be more likely to be able to break into those elite professions compared to someone from a white working class background because they have a better understanding of the ‘social codes’ in play. I do not know of a social class lobby group that necessarily highlights these points. Perhaps as the writer comes from a BAME background it makes it easier for me to highlight such points without receiving the obvious criticism.
Overall, it is a very complex area. I am certainly not advocating positive discrimination as I believe that is not a solution that tackles the root causes of the issue in this matter. However, by removing those barriers and becoming more self aware of our own likely biases – both as a hiring manager and as a job seeker – we can rightly focus on the merit, talent, intelligence and character of the person in front of us.
