Could equality be hindered by lack of confidence?

Ethic minority groups have become better represented at universities, but are finding it more difficult to get jobs than white groups, a new report has found – a trend which could hinder equality.

According to the Race for Opportunity campaign, one in six UK university students are from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background – up from 8.3 per cent in 1995-96.

However, BAME graduates are failing to find employment as easily as their white counterparts, despite being highly represented at UK universities.

Indeed, 56.3 per cent of BAME students who graduated in 2007-08 found work within a year compared with 66 per cent of white students.

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Furthermore, it was suggested Oxford and Cambridge universities were not adequately representing BAME students.

Commenting on the news, Dr Rob Berkeley, director of the Runnymede Trust, said: “The recession has seen employers increasingly restrict their recruitment to a few, elite universities so many [BAME] students simply do not get opportunities because of the institutions that they attend.”

He added such students still too often lack either the networks or confidence to enter certain professions and may not have the support they need to develop the necessary attributes.