A GROUP of 100 or so final-year students assembled at Ernst & Young’s headquarters in London last week. About 60 per cent of them were male, they had all achieved 24 Ucas points and they were studying a range of degree disciplines.

What set them apart was that they all came from an ethnic-minority background. Hand-picked, they were being courted for a day by the “Big Four” professional-services firms: Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCooper, KPMG and Ernst & Young.

As a group, they can be considered the cream of ethnic-minority candidates, simply because of their Ucas points. According to Professor Phillip Brown, of Cardiff University. “The bluechips have got all the language about diversity, but then they get thousands of applications for just a few places,” he says.

Brown’s latest research with Professor Anthony Hesketh, of Lancaster University, hit the headlines this week. Their book The Mismanagement of Talent concludes that 400,000 graduates enter the labour market each year and compete for 62,000 jobs with household-name organisations.

He says: “Ethnic-minority students are more likely to be in second-chance institutions such as former polytechnics and are unlikely to have the 24 Ucas points required. Therefore, they are usually eliminated at the credentials tick box before even reaching the recruitment stage, which looks at social fit, social confidence and acceptability to clients. That puts non-standard graduates at a disadvantage.” A minority of Asian students, he concedes, is “doing well”, but partly, he believes, as a result of tokenism.

Why are the Big Four courting these students? Sarah Churchman, head of diversity at PwC, says: “Diversity is about any kind of difference, invisible or visible, and the aim is to create an environment in which graduates can maximise their potential.”

After a morning of “back to basics” business games and careers information, the students had the chance to ask questions of the panel representatives from the four companies. They asked about the impact of the Enron collapse and the demise of Andersen.

“Interestingly,” says Churchman, “they didn’t ask about intake numbers of ethnic minorities.”

Most big businesses are keen to attract candidates from ethnic minorities for sound commercial reasons — they need people who understand the marketplace of their own communities.

Churchman says: “We desperately need to tap into a wider pool of talent and stay in tune with the changing labour market. To keep a competitive edge, we need to field a team from diverse backgrounds when tendering for contracts with the public sector.”

The public sector is very conscious of its employment quotas of ethnic minorities. In 20 government departments, for example, 9.7 per cent staff are from an ethnic minority, compared with 7.9 per cent of the population. But only 2.8 per cent occupy senior positions. Five departments have no senior ethnic-minority staff whatsoever.

Churchman says: “It’s a historical thing. It’s the same reason why there are so few ethnic minorities on any of the boards of the FTSE 500 companies; the chairman appoints people he knows best. It’s something we are trying to change, but it can’t be done overnight.” Progress is being made in some ways: for the first time in its 155-year history, for example, PwC has appointed a woman to its board.

At the ground level, considerable discrimination remains. Rashid Aslam, 37, a business-transformation director, recalls how he has been thwarted in his attempts to gain senior-level employment. Once, he applied to five headhunters for a senior position and heard nothing. The same application under the name “John Smith” brought him four responses within an hour.

He comments: “In my experience it is difficult to reach the higher echelons of management if your name is Rashid. I have the right skills but the wrong name.”

Helping to counter that kind of problem is Jafrin Sultana, 22, a business studies graduate of Huddersfield University, who works as an auditor in PwC’s Leeds office. She is part of an initiative set up by West Yorkshire universities called Impact, a diversity-mentoring programme for ethnic minorities. She says: “I help to encourage mentees who are nervous about applying to big businesses such as HSBC and Accenture.”

Sultana points to PwC’s online ethnic-minority forum as a useful way to network. She explains: “It’s a place where employees can find out more about religions and includes information about Eid parties and prayer timeslots.”

Case study

WHAT APPEALED to Sola Adenyin, a law graduate from the London School of Economics, about working for Ernst & Young was its focus on people.

“At Ernst & Young, individuality is seen more as a strength than a weakness, and my colleagues all come from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds,” she says. “Everyone is friendly and open, so straight away I felt right at home.”

Adenyin, 22, who aims to develop a wide knowledge of the financial services group, works as an auditor, checking companies’ accounts are free from material error.

“This means a lot of investigative work discovering the sources behind the numbers, which brings into play analytical and communication skills. I specialise in companies working in the financial services sector.

“The package extends beyond mere external tuition and the occasional internal training programmes, to more ongoing support through mentoring, counselling and knowledge development.

“In such a large firm it would be easy to feel just one of many, but Ernst & Young shows a true commitment to making their graduates well rounded and competent professionals.”

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