Sundeep Bhatia asserts that where two candidates are of equal merit, firms should be encouraged to recruit the one from an under-represented group.
Since, in practice, two candidates are almost never of precisely equal merit, this proposal should be seen for what it is: an encouragement to reverse discrimination by the back door. However, even taken on its face value, it is misguided.
The profession should reject discrimination of any kind, however laudable its object may be. Thus, while the idea might be intended to benefit society as a whole, it is founded on the sacrifice of the individual. It means that, in the real world, someone having to go back to spouse and children to say that they did not get the job they applied for because they were the wrong race, colour or sex.
That is abhorrent.
Dr Julian Critchlow, Tregaron
