The Brokerage The Overlooked Advantage - Flipbook - Page 17
Furthermore, and critical to improving outcomes for young people from working class and
minoritised backgrounds, ‘empathy’ is different from ‘sympathy’ - a sorrow or concern for
experiences of others, which is the feeling generated by the prevailing perception of people as
‘disadvantaged’. Previous research studying stigma has found that experiencing empathy helps us
identify similarities and feel closer to people who we initially perceive to be different to ourselves.
[33]
Through this understanding and empathy, organisations will be better equipped to design and
implement equitable and inclusive recruitment practices aimed at allowing underrepresented
young people to succeed during the recruitment process and beyond.
Recommendations
Recruitment teams, hiring managers and other influential decision makers should be
supported with training and experiences that serve to counteract stereotypes of
underrepresented young people and provide opportunities for connection to build
understanding and empathy. Studies show that this can be done effectively through training
and workshops that highlight examples of less-advantaged people who have achieved success
within relevant industries.
Directly expose employees to real-life talented young people with relevant career aspirations.
To achieve this, companies can host workshops and insight days as well as longer term
relationship building opportunities such as mentoring, work experience and internships, the
latter of which allow for larger numbers of employees to benefit from interaction and
relationship building over a sustained period of time.
Supplement initiatives designed to encourage interaction with training and other programmes
that raise awareness amongst employees of the systemic inequalities and barriers that
underrepresented people face.
For deeper engagement, emotional intelligence and perspective-taking training can help
individuals put themselves in the shoes of less-advantaged young people and better
understand the impacts of their lived experience.
Another way to gain a fresh perspective and learn is by joining and supporting communities and
platforms that bring together people from diverse backgrounds.
Host group discussions and workshops amongst employees which can help individuals learn
about others’ views and experiences.[34]
[33] Batson, C. Daniel,Polycarpou, Marina P.,Harmon-Jones, Eddie,Imhoff, Heidi J.,Mitchener, Erin C.,Bednar, Lori
L.,Klein, Tricia R.,Highberger, Lori. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 72(1), Jan 1997, 105-118
[34] Gino, F. and Coffman, K., 2021. Unconscious Bias Training That Works Increasing awareness isn't enough. Teach
people to manage their biases, change their behavior, and track their progress. Harvard Business Review, 99(5).
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