Labor market discrimination is the most common form of discrimination in our province, according to the Monitor 2023 Central Netherlands. In this article we focus on placement discrimination in the MBO, but many aspects are also applicable to HBO placement discrimination and labor market discrimination in general.
The Monitor Discrimination 2023 Central Netherlands provides an overview of discrimination complaints filed with the three antidiscrimination services in our region: Bureau Gelijke Behandeling Flevoland, Art.1 Central Netherlands and Meldpunt Discriminatie Gooi & Vechtstreek. The most important ground for discrimination is origin. Nationally, the figures are comparable.
Impact on MBO students
For MBO students, internship discrimination has an additional complicating factor. They are at the beginning of their careers and it is important for them to gain experience. Moreover, they incur study delays when they cannot find internships, or they cannot even complete their studies. These are problems that college students also face.
Apply anonymously
In 2015, the Social Cultural Planning Agency conducted research on discrimination during job applications. In this test, candidates applied with three exactly the same resumes and cover letters. The only difference was the name. The study found that the name alone was grounds for discrimination. To combat discrimination and prejudice, several municipalities have started applying anonymously. Anonymous application means that personal information such as name, gender and age are omitted from an application in order to reduce prejudice during the recruitment process.
Anonymous job application MBO students
Because MBO students also face a lot of discrimination during the application process, representatives of students, MBO schools, teachers, employees, employers and in February 2023 signed the internship pact. Part of this pact was internship matching. Read more about the pros and cons about internship matching in our article: “The Internship Pact and the limitations of applying anonymously”.
Would you like to know more about how to counter discrimination in job application processes and creating inclusive policies? We can support this through our trainings on internship and labor market discrimination.
Contact us at info@bureaugelijkebehandeling.nl or call 0320-233327.
This article is part of a series of articles on MBO staging discrimination. Also read our other articles.
