Discrimination in the discretionary points award scheme: comparison of white with non-white consultants and men with women

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Abstract
Methods and results We used data for 2000–1 from the Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards for England and Wales and the Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards. These disaggregated data included date of birth, sex, ethnic origin, specialty, level of award or number of discretionary points held, and the year the awards or points were granted. We categorised the ethnic groups Bangladeshi, black African, black other, Chinese, Indian, and Pakistani as non-white and compared these groups with consultants who described themselves as white. Consultants classified as from any other ethnic group and those who did not give their ethnic origin were excluded. We divided the number of consultants with discretionary points by the total number of consultants who did not receive distinction awards, as consultants without awards are eligible for discretionary points. We compared the proportion of consultants with discretionary points between white and non-white consultants and between men and women (table). In England and Wales, white consultants had 1.37 (95% confidence interval 1.31 to 1.44) times as many awards as non-white consultants, and men had 1.25 (1.21 to 1.30) times as many as women; in Scotland the ratios were 1.34 (1.08 to 1.66) and 1.36 (1.23 to 1.51). The ratios increased with increasing level of award (table).