Should I be suprised at the claimed discrimination?

[Seastallion]

I received an email ad from a TEFL institute. Below is the lead paragraph;

*********

Blond Hair & Blue Eyes? You've Got The Job!

There remains a LOT of prejudice in Thailand as to what they expect an English teacher to look like.

Female teachers will get a job over Male teachers, young over old, blond haired females with blue eyes will get the job over just about EVERYONE else, regardless of your experience and qualifications! If you are a mature candidate over, say, 55, or you're African-American, Black South African, Indian or Asian, then you MUST go and visit prospective employers in person, otherwise your email application will likely be rejected, regardless of your qualifications!

***********

I guess some people here will not be suprised, but I would be interested to read from those that can refute the claim. My other half is a Thai lady who teaches English at a tertiary institute and she wants me to apply for an English teaching job. Unfortunately, I am not a young, blond female.

The TEFL institute here was not Andrew Biggs Academy, however I saw that ABA require a photo with applications. Would this kind of prejudice permeate through to ABA?

[speedtripler]

hitler had the right idea then ?

[wym]

No surprise, there aren't any laws against discrimination, or if there are some in theory (please don't tell me about the constitution 8-) they certainly aren't enforced.

Yes, unfortunately very pervasive, especially in areas where there are plenty of applicants.

Very few schools in the commercial TEFL sector are silly enough to let foreign principles interfere with getting bums in seats.

British Council may be an exception, but you need to have a UK degree and be well qualified.

Upcountry schools paying peanuts sometimes have no choices, but you'd have to spend a fair bit of energy prospecting.

Only way to find out is to show up and try to get an interview.

Edited February 6, 2014 by wym

[meatboy]

and make sure your trouser pockets are bulging that will help :

[zeichen]

Actually I think that letter is BS. Experience and a good interview trumps all other bias. Yes for teachers without any qualifications or experience or skills, they will opt to hire younger (female) teachers. Overall that just doesn't happen.

If that letter was 100% true, then how come there are so many old, ugly teachers working here in Thailand. Don't kid yourself a professional appearance and the cultural opinion of beauty does influence all jobs even in the west, however it is not the only criteria. Schools want you to look like a teacher, act like a teacher and be professional. Schools that have hired the younger unreliable crowd tend to get past those typical stereotypes. Many schools have a high turnover and want someone that is going to stay here. If you show that you are a good investment, then you will get the job.

Also at the University level it is never a factor. There if you have experience and decent qualifications, you will get the job. However, most university positions pay relatively low.

[Kitsune]

Basis of Thai society.

Class, cast, look, money, , skin color, appearance is everything here.

[JoeThePoster]

Just need a wig and coloured contact lenses then.

[wym]

I thought the main "discrimination" issue was wrt to race, and that is a VERY strong factor here in all sectors, including university.

The sex issue is most relevant at schools with younger students, not least because of the many issues schools have had with paedophiles.

And yes youth is an issue if there is a choice, very often there are only older males applying, because they want to stay in Thailand for the girls.

The pay is so low most sensible people with normal motivations are smart enough to go to other countries to teach.

Edited February 6, 2014 by wym

[wym]

and make sure your trouser pockets are bulging that will help :

Huh? As in "or are you happy to see me?"

[JLCrab]

and make sure your trouser pockets are bulging that will help :

Huh? As in "or are you happy to see me?"

No -- it's a gun.

[meatboy]

and make sure your trouser pockets are bulging that will help :

Huh? As in "or are you happy to see me?"

its also another meaning to "dangling the carrot"

[recycler]

Paint your hair and get a facelift ;-)

[belg]

you are not a blond female NOW, but you COULD BE.... dont you know thailand is famous for sex changes and the colour of your hair, that is a job for the barber, looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

[PiPiFFS]

Why has it always got to be about the sex ? Does it never occur to you that the reason that the blonde, blue eyed woman got the job was because she was more qualified, experienced or better suited to the job and not simply that she was a good looking woman ?

[Suradit69]

Appearance has always been an unspoken qualification for job applicants. It's true everywhere including the US where people sniff out discrimination (real or unreal) for everything. And, apparently, even in Italy:

Italian researchers from the University of Messina set out to see if physical appearance played a part during the first stage of the hiring process. They sent out more than 11,000 resumes for 1,542 openings across Italy. Unless the job only asked for male applicants, the researchers submitted eight resumes for each position: four had a photo of an attractive or unattractive male or female, and four did not include headshots. To add another component to the study, two of non-photo CVs were for Italians and two were for foreigners.

RELATED: WORKPLACE BULLIES TARGET UGLY PEOPLE: STUDY

The overall callback rate was 30%, but the researchers found that the good-looking ladies and gentlemen were more successful. Beautiful women had a callback rate of 54% and handsome men had a rate of 47%.

The less attractive applicants didn't fare quite as well. The callback rate for the so-called unattractive applicants was 7% for women and 26% for men.

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Researchers pointed out that non-Italian men and women had lower callback rates (13% and 12% respectively), but the tests for discrimination based on physical appearance were more statistically significant.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/attractive-people-land-job-interviews-study-article-1.1452436

Edited February 6, 2014 by Suradit69

[chrisinth]

Quote

hitler had the right idea then ?

His English wasn't very good by all accounts, doubt he would have got the job................

[cashpower]

"she wants me to apply for an English teaching job."

If I was you the last thing I would be worried about is discrimination. The fact that you can't devise a succinct thread title relevant to the content would be more of a concern.

[Berkshire]

It's unfortunate that this sort of discrimination goes on. But in Thailand, it seems to be confined mostly to English teachers. And the Thais aren't too discreet about it.

In the US, it's much more subtle and harder to detect. Check out this article. It's from 2009, but I'm sure this sort of thing still goes on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/us/01race.html?_r=1&hp

An excerpt:

[Various academic studies have confirmed that black job seekers have a harder time than whites. A study published several years ago in The American Economic Review titled “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?” found that applicants with black-sounding names received 50 percent fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names.]

[techboy]

If you do not feel comfortable with any of the dating services (I have no experience with them) you can frequently find non bar girls working chat sites at internet shops who are looking to meet foreign guys. I have met some nice ones in this venue.

[cashpower]

If you do not feel comfortable with any of the dating services (I have no experience with them) you can frequently find non bar girls working chat sites at internet shops who are looking to meet foreign guys. I have met some nice ones in this venue.

Yes, and bananas are high in potassium

[techboy]

Basis of Thai society.

Class, cast, look, money, , skin color, appearance is everything here.

So this discrimination is a Thai thing?! Sometimes I wonder what rock some people have spent their lives under.

[JusMe]

This was common when I was working in other Asian countries (haven't worked in Thailand, so no experience with it here, although I'd expect it).

We always knew a buxom blonde would get the job over any fat old guy. That's one of the reasons the schools asked for photos with the applications.

The only real qualifications for a job offer were physical; certificates and experience were way down the list.

[rct99q]

Isn't Thailand great this way. Instead of always having to make sure you do not offend every race, creed or color of a person. The West has gone way to far in it's political correctness. If this company wants to hire a blonde haired, blue eyed woman under 30 then that is up to them.

However a company in the US wanting to do the same thing must accept applications from hundreds of people screen everyone to make sure they do not offend people by excluding them (otherwise there is a law suit). Can not ask if you are male, female, black, white, chinese, how old, how fat, smoker, non smoker, gay or straight....sheesh. At the same time the company has to practice due diligence in making sure when it hires the blued eyed, blonde haired woman under 30 that they can explain to every advocacy group that this was the best candidate for the job!

[Khon Thai Ben Khon Dee]

Paint your hair and get a facelift ;-)

Put on a green wig.

Paint your nose red.

Take juggling lessons.

[Khon Thai Ben Khon Dee]

Basis of Thai society.

Class, cast, look, money, , skin color, appearance is everything here.

So this discrimination is a Thai thing?! Sometimes I wonder what rock some people have spent their lives under.

Or what flight some people will be arriving for their first Thai visit on.

[Beetlejuice]

The OP says that his Thai lady teaches English at a tertiary institute. I guess she has an Asian appearance and does not have blond hair and blue eyes. So this rather throws out the racial discrimination theory.

I do agree that certain people of colour such as blacks, Indians and some Middle Eastern peoples are discriminated against in Thailand, but on the over hand so are the Burmese. This I believe is more based as a class thing, those originating from poor countries rather than racial prejudice.

[HooHaa]

if this is affecting you, you are trolling for the lowest of low level positions.

im pretty safe though, blond haired, blue eyed and with perky man boobs

[remobb]

I asked my employer about discrimination and the reply was "we do not discriminate, we just have the right to choose" Needless to say, if you are not female, young, blond or white your chances are very low.

[Wavnarok]

Why has it always got to be about the sex ? Does it never occur to you that the reason that the blonde, blue eyed woman got the job was because she was more qualified, experienced or better suited to the job and not simply that she was a good looking woman ?

Usually not , did you ever work on an office ? I had seen the most qualified woman beeing rejected for an useless outstanding blonde as you described , many times . Bosses on those companies did not last long either....

Edited February 6, 2014 by Wavnarok

[FiftyTwo]

What about red hair and green eyes?

Where do they rate on the scale?