College applications in UK to become anonymous

[jkbRN]

Candidates' names will be removed from university application forms from 2017, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

The move is part of a plan to prevent unconscious bias against candidates from minority groups, said Mr Cameron, writing in the Guardian newspaper.

Other measures against discrimination include a pledge by leading graduate employers to name-blind recruitment, the Prime Minister has announced.

The admissions body UCAS said it was keen to boost minority student numbers.

The prime minister set out the measures at a Downing Street round table on Monday.

Further Reading: http://www.bbc.com/news/education-34616420

[Nye Bevan]

1. Sounds like an excellent idea. The US should do the same (nt)

[jkbRN]

3. Totally agree

[Lyric]

2. This is a seriously awesome idea. My only concern is that

I'm not sure how to implement Affirmative Action policies if the applications are totally anonymous. Maybe there can be a checkbox indicating that the applicant is a member of a minority group (racial, ethnic, LGBT, etc.) without indicating any details about which minority group the applicant belongs to. That way minorities still get the extra points that they well deserve, while removing specific biases.

[jkbRN]

4. You make a great point!

[Dorian Gray]

5. They're doing this

to prevent gender bias. I don't know what kind of affirmative action laws the UK has on the books, but, apparently, there wasn't enough diversity in the universities. This is to battle that.