Apprenticeships discriminate against women, disabled and ethnic minorities, report warns

The report, Is Scotland Fairer?, will warn that women, disabled people and those from ethnic minority background are less likely to be in work, often earn less than other workers and are less likely to progress up the career ladder.

However the report suggests a lack of equal opportunities can begin before people even get a permanent job, as women apprentices receive less pay while disabled people and members of Scotland's ethnic minorities are largely shut out of Scotland's modern apprenticeships programme.

The EHRC says Modern Apprenticeships continued to see young workers channelled into gender-segregated roles, with women taking up opportunities in low paid careers such as hairdressing. As a result there are large pay differences across the apprenticeship framework the report says, reflecting the wider labour market.

The basic hourly pay figure for Level 2 and Level 3 apprentices (the lowest level post-school apprenticeship) was worst in female-dominated hairdressing, where median earnings for apprentices are £4.08 per hour.

Women are less likely to be apprentices in better-paid sectors such as construction, engineering, and transport and logistics, the report adds.

UK Government statistics on mean and median earnings show that female Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeships earn less than their equivalent male counterparts.

Meanwhile the proportion of Modern Apprenticeships started by women fell last year to 40 per cent compared with 2013, when it was 43 per cent.

"The Modern Apprenticeship programme runs the risk of reinforcing occupational segregation," the report warns.

Despite the fact that they make up four per cent of the population, only two per cent of the 26,262 apprenticeships taken up last year went to people from ethnic minorities. Around one in five working age Scots have a disability, but disabled people took up just one in ten Modern Apprenticeships.

Although the report warns of a lack of evidence due to the relatively small population, it nevertheless concludes that the under-representation of non-white Scots in apprenticeships is "a concern".

"All ethnic minorities have very low access to apprenticeship programmes," the report says."

The report says ministers are attempting to tackle this problem, and Skills Development Scotland has been asked to implement an "Equalities Action Plan" for Modern Apprenticeships which sets specific improvement targets for participation by race, gender and disability.

EHRC recommends that companies set targets for recruiting diverse candidates, and adopt measures including positive action and using 'tiebreak' provisions to select those from minority groups when candidates are equally qualified.

The equalities watchdog also calls on the Scottish Government should hold Skills Development Scotland "to ensure that apprenticeships at all levels improve participation for those not already in work."

A spokeswoman for Skills Development Scotland said modern apprenticeships were reflective of the job market and employers needed to make a shift towards more inclusive and equal recruitment practices. Katie Hutton, director of national training programmes, added:

“Modern Apprenticeships are jobs created by employers, who decide who they hire and train and SDS is working with partners to look at how employers can be more inclusive when it comes to apprenticeships.

“No one organisation can solve what are deep rooted societal, cultural and workplace issues and we would welcome further insight from EHRC on what more they believe could be done within our remit.

"Recent examples of our activity includes the Improving Gender Balance project in schools from early years up in partnership with Institute of Physics and Education Scotland, which has now been rolled out by Education Scotland nationwide.

"We have also developed inclusive recruitment guides for employers and continue to support training providers with training on equality and diversity in the workplace."