Sian Berry, the Green Party candidate for Mayor of London, has welcomed the move by Ucas – announced this morning by the Prime Minister – to remove candidates’ names from their application forms and pledged to mandate this for all GLA group agencies and contractors if she were Mayor.
The anonymisation of applications and CVs is intended to help tackle unconscious bias against female candidates and applicants from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
“This is a very welcome move and I’m pleased that David Cameron has put his weight so squarely behind such an important initiative,” she said.
“Anonymised applications are an important step in levelling the playing field for candidates of all backgrounds – and will also help women who are similarly disadvantaged by conscious and unconscious bias in their careers.
“It was a Green Party manifesto commitment at the General Election to progressively introduce anonymised CVs so that Black and Minority Ethnic and female candidates are not excluded before the interview stage because of their identity.
“I have used this method of assessing candidates anonymously for several years in my job with a leading charity, as well as for Green Party recruitment, and it has been a simple and very effective measure. I’m delighted to see that the employers of some 1.8 million people will now be operating this system, including the civil service, the BBC, the NHS and local government.
“If I am elected Mayor of London I will go further and ensure that all GLA direct recruitment, including by the police and fire service, and all organisations working with City Hall as contractors operates name-blind recruitment.”