19 June 08 – Publication of DWP research report – Recruiting under-represented groups into the Senior Civil Service

This report by the Institute for Employment Studies, Chartered Management Institute and DWP examines the recruitment trends of female, ethnic minority and disabled managers. The aim of the report is to inform how the Department can attract more diverse talent in the SCS.

The report provides a picture of the different career aspirations of managers from under represented groups and the barriers that they perceive themselves facing. Additionally, it explores where people from diverse groups look for work, what attracts them to a job and to a particular employer and encourages employers to develop their understanding of job search habits if they are to avoid overlooking the talents of diverse groups when recruiting.

The main findings highlighted in the research are:

• the use of different media to attract job hunters as more people use online job searches and online advertising to search for jobs
• the perceptions senior managers have that working for the civil service is hierarchical and bureaucratic. 
• the types of organisations and roles different people are looking for.

Notes to editors

1. The DWP research report: Recruiting under-represented groups into the Senior Civil Service is published today on the DWP website.
2. The report is being published alongside an Executive Summary and a press release from Chartered Management Institute.
3.  The report was produced following a major research programme by the Institute for Employment Studies, Chartered Management Institute and DWP.
4. DWP commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies to explore the attitudes and job search behaviours of the senior managers who are from under-represented groups, including women, those with a long-term health condition or disability, and those from ethnic minorities.
5. The report authors were Hülya Hooker, Nick Jagger and Susanna Baldwin from the Institute of Employment Studies. Petra Wilton and Nicky Jackson from Chartered Management Institute managed the data handling of the survey.
6. The research project comprised three strands:
   • A detailed review of the UK senior management population using the 2001 Census data, to provide the actual trends within that population.
   • A detailed interrogation of the National Online Recruitment Audience Survey (NORAS) data, to present the activities and search behaviours of online job seekers (2007).
   • An attitude survey of managers (2007) using the membership database of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), to explore the attitudes and perceptions of managers from the under-represented groups, and compare these views with those of white, male and non-disabled managers.
7. This work fits with the Department’s wider strategy on diversity within our workforce.  The new Civil Service Diversity Strategy will be launched in the Autumn and we will prepare a response which will encompass this report, the wider diversity work and the Civil Service Diversity Strategy.

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Website: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2007-2008/rrep512.pdf
Prepared by: Department for Work and Pensions Corporate HR Directorate