Are schemes like the SEO racist? POLL

Do you actually have any evidence to support those assertions?

That's rubbish. My white ethnic friends were all but told to **** off when they approached SEO. SEO is for black people. There may be some 'token' exceptions though.

I didn't go through with them, but they were fine with me being Pakistani?

In case you aren't familiar with these schemes, they are in essence programs that aim to put people from ethnic minorities into internships in the City.

Here is some copy from the website of SEO;

SEO London is a not-for-profit organisation that every year provides hundreds of outstanding undergraduates from under-represented ethnic minority backgrounds the unique opportunity to gain exposure to some of the most prestigious graduate employers in the UK, including many of the very best firms in investment banking, management consulting, corporate law, professional services, technology, advertising, marketing and communications.

In summer 2011 SEO London supported more than 520 Black and other minority ethnic (‘BME’) students to secure placements and/or graduate positions with more than 30 partner firms. These firms include the elite from all of the previously mentioned industries – Ashurst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Barclays Corporate, Barclays Wealth, BP Integrated Supply & Trading, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Citi, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, FactSet, Freshfields, Goldman Sachs, Herbert Smith, IPA, HSBC, Jones Day, J.P. Morgan, KPMG, Latham & Watkins, Linklaters, Macquarie, Macfarlanes, Mayer Brown, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, Novartis, Norton Rose, Procter & Gamble, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Simmons & Simmons, Weil Gotshal, Winston & Strawn.

Further to this overt bias (deliberately stating that they help those from ethnic minorities but making no mention of those that are not), if you examine their programmes page (http://www.seo-london.com/SEO-Programme-Areas/) you will notice that there are no pictures of white or non-ethnic people.

If an organisation existed that aimed to put white middle-class students into the City, they would be called shockingly racist and rightly so - so why are organisations like this that only allow ethnic minorities to benefit from their services not thought of as exactly the same?

What do you think, TSR members?

You sound like a bitter fool who is trying his best to dispute any sort of evidence which demonstrated that it is not a racist organisation. Other posters are correct in asserting that it is just looking to boost diversity in the city. I was part of seo and other similar organisations the people who do get interviews and internships are more than capable and qualified. Just to echo what other posters have said about the Europeans in the programme, I've come across a couple who have gotten internships this year, they are definitely not tokens (that is a rather disgusting remark). It has been proven that diversity in the workplace leads to improved innovation/productivity and fresh ideas - many firms and companies have engaged with this idea and therefore partner with SEO and similar organisations.

Why? What on earth is the point in diversity for the sake of diversity? Surely all that matters is how capable you are of doing the job - I find quotas to be not only completely nonsensical but completely unfair.

Nobody wants to see people who are not capable getting the job, that is not what is happening here. It is giving a look in to people who would often get marginalised for no other reason apart from the colour of their skin/name.

People who are good enough have no reason to complain or be worried. If you aren't good enough, but have been getting in because you fit the companies' 'look' better, then yes you should be worried.

Also there will be capable people from ethnic minorities who do not even bother applying to prestigious companies because they believe they will be unbiased towards them. This scheme and others help to show them that if they are good enough, then they should apply and go for it. Unless you feel threatened because you don't believe you are better, why would you feel threatened?