Opportunity in Kosovo’s
Employment System: A Survey
of Citizens’ Perceptions
Authors:
Leonard Ibrahimi, MA
Faton Pacolli, MA candidate
November 2008
3
About kimp
The Kosovar Institute for Media and Policy (kimp) is a recently established think
tank institute that conducts researches and analyses which are organized around
more than 12 programs grouped under two themes.
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MEDIA STUDIES
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trembelat in the area of media & communication. Therefore, conducting analyses of the
content of mass media and reporting the findings of the analyses (i.e., analyzing
© 2oo8 by the Kosovar
media texts to show evidence of problematic representations of the ‘Other’;
Institute for Media and Policy.
All rights reserved. analyzing content of media messages with regard to their reflection of reality
and consistency with democratic practices; and, analyzing how media messages
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4
Contents
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................6
Acronyms ....................................................................................................................7
Executive Summary ....................................................................................................8
Introduction..............................................................................................................10
Kosovo Employment System: what you know vs. who you know .............................15
Perceptions on Discrimination in Employment and its Consequences ....................18
Perceptions regarding the chances on Advancement in Society ..............................23
Conclusions and Recommendations.........................................................................25
Appendix: Research Methodology ............................................................................28
Bibliography .............................................................................................................30
5
Acknowledgements
Several individuals were included in conducting this research; we thank all of them.
In particular, we would like to thank Ms. Arta Demaj, Ms. Valbona Prekorogja, and
Mr. Fatmir Ramaj for their very useful help and suggestions during the course of
this project.
6
Acronyms
AA Affirmative Action
EU European Union
US United States
WB World Bank
7
Executive summary
The greatest challenge facing Kosovo in the coming years relates to the principle of
equality; labor market discrimination is so pervasive and dynamic in Kosovo society
that simply there is no time to wait – urgent preventive measures are compulsory.
Although there was no political will to tackle this problem, Kosovo government
should acknowledge the importance of equality (fairness for all) as the basis for
social justice and wealth economy, and accordingly, design and implement legal
framework for the adoption of measures combating discrimination in employment
on ground of political affiliation or conviction, gender, ethnicity, age and disability.
8
findings suggest that discrimination on the ground of age or ageism is pervasive
and very dynamic in Kosovo; moreover, it occurs at many points in the employment
areas, although mostly on the interview stage.
The study also established two worrying findings; first, inequality in access to
employment pushes members of “targeted groups” to leave the country. And
second, the top worrying finding of this research – the dominant perception in
Kosovo is that it’s almost impossible to move up in Kosovo society through hard
work and education. The qualitative analysis about these findings highlights the
citizens’ concerns and disappointments and accordingly perceived consequences for
Kosovo society.
To end with, the report emphasizes some very disturbing results that Kosovo
society faces with; however, they constitute an important foundation for tackling
of inequality in access to employment. Thus, the final section presents some
recommendations for the government and other political actors on how to deal
with this problem, such as a) the prompt passage of the essential legislation
aiming establishing a legal labor infrastructure in Kosovo, in accordance with
EU legislation, which excludes all kinds of discrimination b) designing and
implementation of Equal Opportunity Policy (EOPs), aiming to encourage
change and move towards the genuine provision of fairness; c) designing and
implementation of Affirmative Actions Programs (AA), attempting to act positively
and affirmatively in removing the barriers that prevent “targeted groups” from
having equal access to employment; d) establishing the National Equal Opportunity
Commission (NEOC), a coherent body that aims to fulfill the constitutional promise
of equality in all its dimensions; and, e) Designing and launching of different
campaigns aiming to increase the public awareness of equality and diversity, their
societal and economic benefits.
Therefore, the Kosovo citizens have spoken and they have spoken very clearly –
labor market discrimination is certainty; whole categories of people are being
excluded from the world of work, and accordingly they are being excluded from
the opportunity of living with dignity. Now it’s time for the political authorities
to reflect on the inequality in employment and its consequences and to put
the fairness in employment, at the center of all public – policy making and
implementation.
9
Introduction
The principle of equality is not just a fundamental right and a very important
cornerstone of a democratic society but also incredibly challenging issue that
needs careful treatment and nurturing. Therefore, the struggle for the promotion
of this principle has been one of the defining features of American life for decades;
“it was at the heart of civil rights movement” (Burstein 1994, p. ix). On the other
hand, EU has continuously acknowledged the importance of equal opportunity
– this principle has been considered as a key means to social inclusion.1 Very
often this concept has been replaced with the notion of management of diversity
although, according to Noon & Ogbonna (2001, p. 1), “in both theory and practice it
offers a new challenge to both conceptualizing and tackling the issues of equality,
discrimination and injustice in employment”.
1 Equality of opportunity is also protected by the European Community Law; moreover, it’s considered as
a fundamental human right that would also accelerate economic growth by maximizing human potential. For
more information see: European Union 2006, ‘Consolidated Versions on EU and of the Treaty Establishing The
Community’, Official Journal of the European Union, C 321, pp. 109 – 111 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/
LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2006:321E:0001:0331:EN:pdf, (pdf document, accessed October 21, 2008).
2 The identification with system occurs when citizens have confidence on leadership – because the system
functions fairly and without discrimination. The opposite, alienation from the system is reflected through great
mistrust on political leadership; the consequences are voter apathy, decline in political party affiliation etc.
For more information see: Mayer et al. 200o, Comparative Politics: Nations and Theories in a Changing World,
Prentice Hall, New Jersey
10
In this context, Kosovo faces an essential problem; the principle of equal
1 Equality of opportu- opportunity remains a dimension that needs an immediate treatment. Since
nity is essential to
the pursuit of long – term the end of the 1999 war, the political leadership, in general, has encouraged the
prosperity. Institutions that employment on basis of political affiliation, or even more, everything was taken
implement policies of equal
into consideration except the possession of meritorious characteristics.
opportunity where all mem-
bers of society have similar
chances to become socially The recent UNDP Early Warning Report suggests that, “education and vocational
active, politically influential,
and economically productive training are less important than giving bribes and having important friends as far
– contribute to sustainable as gaining employment in the public sector is concerned”.3
growth and development.
Greater equity in employ-
ment is thus doubly good for The politicization of recruitment appears to be rising, particularly, in public
poverty reduction: through administration. According to SIGMA,4 recruitment procedures are not being
potential beneficial effects on followed and the civil service is being increasingly politicized. This means that civil
aggregate long – run develop-
ment and through greater op- service is being used to employ political activist belonging to the political party in
portunities for poorer groups power. And, as a result, SIGMA argues that in most municipalities, the civil service
within any society. shows a general lack of professionalism in implementing transparent, non –
(Source: World Develop- politicized, ethnically and gender balanced procedures in employment areas such
ment Report 2006, pp. 1 – 3) as recruitment and promotion.
3 UNDP Early Warning Report, among others suggest that the factors that help the employability of an
individual, ranked based on the relevance, as far as employment in public sector is concerned are: 1) bribes, 2)
having important friends, 3) professional experience, 4) education, and 5) vocational training. For more information
see: UNDP Kosovo 2008, ‘Early Warning Report Kosovo’, Report #19, http://www.kosovo.undp.org/repository/docs/
EWR_19_Eng_.pdf, (pdf document, accessed October 17, 2008).
4 SIGMA (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management) has conducted Public Administration
Reform Assessment in Kosovo. The report has identified a lot of flaws in Kosovo’s Public Administration. For more
information see: SIGMA 2004, ‘Balkans Public Administration Reform Assessment – Kosovo’, http://www.oecd.org/
dataoecd/60/16/36501718.pdf, (pdf document, accessed October 20, 2008).
5 On September 2005, World Bank published the report that, among others, analyzes the equity (equality of op-
portunity), its advantages to economic development. For more information see: World Bank 2005, World Develop-
ment Report 2006: Equity and Development, Oxford University Press, New York.
11
and labor discrimination exclude each other; what is more, World Bank suggests
2 Ultimately, fairness is that a focus on equal opportunity should be a central concern in the design
a crucial element in
any social compact; inclusion and implementation of policy for development and growth – none of today’s
is a spirit of equality. Social prosperous societies developed by excluding its members from economic and
inclusion is determined by the political opportunities (2005, pp. 36 – 43). In addition, Jain et al. (2003, pp. xi – 1),
equality of opportunities; it is
achieved through removal of argue that fairness in employment setting is compatible with the goals of efficiency,
obstacles that exclude people economic growth and prosperity. Therefore, the struggle against labor market
from equal access to employ-
discrimination is essential to economic and political prosperity and it continues for
ment. Societies in which
perceived fairness is neglected a long time, in a variety of areas.
ultimately can reach tipping
points at which massive
social unrest occurs. And thus,
On the other hand, in the course of their analysis of the labor market
increasing repression becomes discrimination Oswick & Rosenthal (2001, pp. 156 – 161), suggest that “a common
necessary to sustain the exist- feature of the labor discrimination theories is the heavy reliance upon the ‘own
ing social order. Clearly, neither
social unrest nor repression is group/different group’ perspective”, and Kosovo as a post – conflict society is weak
desirable. In other words, pro- to differentiation – it has more than it needs. Therefore, building a labor force that
moting fairness is a strategy to is representative of the pool of potential applicants with appropriate qualifications,
avoid the depressing conse-
quences of social exclusion for including people who think differently, ethnic minorities, women and persons with
social cohesion. disabilities, should be considered by political leadership as the only way of building
(Source: Jain, H. C. et al.
a cohesive and healthy society. Furthermore, only then political establishment
2003, pp. ix – 13) might demand loyalty from all its members.6
And last but certainly not least, the concept of equal opportunities rests also on a
moral objective, which is social justice (Kaler 2001, p. 51); offering people the chance to
compete on an equal basis is the only way of maximizing their human potential, which
on the other hand, represents realization of the social justice. In other words, there
are reasons of both economic efficiency and societal justice, for Kosovo government
to focus on employment system, combat discrimination on the labor market and
prevent the exclusion of people from the world of work. What is more, this is essential
to creating a political environment in which state institutions will be respected and
defended with commitment by all members of Kosovo society.
6 The British examples view a cohesive society as a society with the diversity of backgrounds of its members be-
ing positively valued and the provision of equal opportunity for all in society. Moreover, providing equal opportunity
to its members and valuing their diversity is necessary and sufficient condition of building a cohesive and healthy
society. For more information see: Markus, A. & Kirpitchenko, L. 2007, ‘Conceptualizing Social cohesion’, in Social
Cohesion in Australia, eds. Jupp, J. et al. Cambridge University Press, New York.
12
Despite social and economic benefits to Kosovo society, there was no political
3 In the United States, will, at least till now, to tackle this problem. Kosovo political authorities ignored
the dominant percep-
tion is that every one can the issue of fairness in employment by offering a deregulated environment of
move up in society through employment, although experiences of democratic societies,7 suggest that some
hard work and education. form of legislation is crucial to provide a suitable environment for organizations
In view of that, equal op-
portunity for all members (employers – public and private) to enact policies that encourage equality of
of the society regardless of opportunities. Therefore, up till now there is no law on labor promulgated by
their race, religion or sex is
Kosovo Parliament; employment relationships are governed by UNMIK Regulation
an important or absolutely
essential American value. no. 2001/27 on Essential Labor Law in Kosovo.8 The section 2 (two) of this
Therefore, a specific view of regulation consists of 6 (six) paragraphs and prohibits all kinds of discrimination.
this reality dominates the U.S.
culture; it is communicated
Of course this is insufficient; even advanced democracies such as US and EU,
both explicitly and implicitly where discrimination on the labor market belongs to the past, still commit a huge
through media messages, importance to the equality in employment and accordingly, they constantly design
public speeches, schools, and
other social institutions – it and implement not just Equal Opportunity Policies (EOPs) but also evaluating
is a constitutive component programs for these policies.
of American Dream.
(Source: Alberts et al. Thus, the research analyzes the results of a survey on citizens’ perceptions
2006, pp. 250 – 255) concerning the value of the equal opportunity in areas of recruitment and
promotion where potential or actual employees are in competition with each
other for different positions. The research methodology which formed the basis
of this study is described in detail in Appendix. In brief, the research strategy
involved three elements: a) review of relevant literature and reports that highlight
the meaning of equal opportunity and its importance to society; b) questionnaire
survey; and, c) focus groups discussions.
7 Democratic societies such as United States of America, European Union, Australia, Canada and others have a
huge amount of legislation that regulates the employment area; moreover, these societies have designed and imple-
mented Equal Opportunity Policies and Affirmative Actions Programs based on that legislation to tackle the issue of
labor market discrimination. For more information see: Jain, H. C. et al. 2003, Employment Equity and Affirmative
Action: An International Comparison, M.E. Sharpe, New York.
8 On October 2001, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) promulgated the Regulation on
Essential Labor Law in Kosovo. The Regulation governs the employment relationships concerning employment con-
tracts and collective arrangements; among others it protects employees’ rights and prohibits gender discrimination.
Additionally, the regulation provides for annual leaves, minimum wage, overtime pay, maternity leaves and sick leaves.
13
that come from the use of just one method; according to Jick (1979, pp. 602 –
611), “triangulation is not only examining the same phenomenon from multiple
perspectives but also increasing understanding when new or deeper insight
emerges”.
The report examines the research’s results from different viewpoints, that is,
a description of results of a survey based on questionnaire combined with
presentation of the qualitative data. The first section provides detailed information
of what is more valid, what you know or who you know, in order to find a job in
Kosovo. The second section focuses on a) representation of citizens’ perceptions
about discrimination in employment in public & private sector on the one hand
and the consequences of this phenomenon to Kosovo society on the other, and
b) representation of citizens’ perceptions and a detailed analysis of qualitative
data concerning the chances on advancement in Kosovo society. And finally, the
third section provides some conclusions and then recommendations to successful
implementation of the fairness in employment system; and in view of that,
combating the discrimination on the labor market, and thus building a just and a
healthy society.
14
Kosovo employment system:
what you know vs. who you know
The principle of equal opportunity suggests that all current and prospective
employees receive fair treatment in hiring, training, and promotion. Quite the
opposite, the research revealed that a large percentage of respondents (80.5
percent) believed that certain groups of people are treated preferentially in areas of
employment such as recruitment, training and promotion (Figure 1). Education was
related to this attitude; eighty seven percent of those who have superior education
believed that there is no fair treatment in recruitment and promotion practices.
Also, gender was very closely attached to this issue, 84.7 percent of female think
that some groups of people are favorably treated in employment and promotion.
Participants of the focus groups discussions described the ways in which they
thought certain groups of people are being treated preferentially. For example one
said:
02 04 06 08 0 100
15
Another research participant pointed out that even when female candidates are
hired to work in a certain job they are still not given a fair chance for promotion:
02 04 06 08 0 100
16
I have superior education, BA in law and I have applied for
certain positions in different companies, including the public
ones. Simply, there was no job for me; the reason was I didn’t
belong to any of political parties, particularly to those in
Central and local au-
thorities have social, power. And, believe it or not I have started my carrier, and I
political and further- still work as electro – worker.
more, moral obligation
to develop the concept Some research participants drew attention to as they said “a very shaming way of
of diversity, by recruit-
ing female employees,
dealing with potential employees”. According to them some civil employers even
and accordingly en- play with dignity of those who apply for certain positions. As one of them MA
couraging the active student of law said:
participation of female
in cultural and political
Two years ago I have applied for a job in Ministry of Internal
developments.
Albanian female,
Affairs. A lot of documents were required; within two weeks
student of political science I managed to complete them. When I went to submit the
documents I saw a friend of mine who was working in one
of the departments of this ministry; and, he told me that
the supposed vacant post in fact was not vacant – a male
was working there for more than three months; and, he was
political militant of the political party to whom belonged
the Ministry of Internal Affairs… To conclude, in Kosovo it’s
not important what you know in order to find a job, it’s who
you know; therefore, the preferential style of recruitment
based on aphorism: it’s not what you know, it’s who you
know – is more than reality.
17
Perceptions on discrimination in
employment and its consequences
For us, above 40 Very concerning results were obtained from respondents when they were asked to
years old, and rate the discrimination in employment in public sector. An impressive majority of
without supe- them rated it as “very high”, 83.3 percent; whilst just 1.6 percent of them rated it as
rior education “low” (Figure 3). The gender and nationality were very closely related to this belief;
that don’t have therefore, the only two significant distinctions noted among different respondents’
friends in key po- categories was that eighty – eight percent of Serbs and 87.8 percent of female rated
sitions, or political the discrimination in public sector as “very high”.
connections it’s
almost impos- In addition, more than on anything else, research participants in focus groups
discussions were unanimous regarding the labor market discrimination in public
sible to find a job.
sector. All of them, without any exception, agreed that public sector, in particular,
Bosniac male, age 43
the public administration has became an employer of political activists and of those
who have political connections. As one research participant commented, “The
public administration serves as an employer of political militants; it’s filled with
unprofessional employees; and, accordingly remains one of the most corrupted and
unreformed sectors in the country”.
02 04 06 08 0 100
18
Some research participants were very concerned in relation to as they said, “the fact
that women in public administration are disproportionately represented”. An Albanian
female, student of Political Science said:
The survey asked participants how they would rate the discrimination in employment
in private sector. A clear majority of respondents (55.2 percent) rated it as “very high”,
whilst 4.2 percent rated it as “low” (Figure 4). The results show that sex and age were
strongly attached to this attitude; hence, 67.5 percent of female and 76.8 percent of
respondents who belong to the age group (41 - ), rated the discrimination in private
sector as “very high”.
On the other hand, qualitative data give more detailed view of aforementioned
figures. Debate within focus groups highlighted some participants’ experiences in
relation to employment areas such as recruitment, training and promotion in private
organizations. One Albanian woman said that she was more than confident that
concerning the training there is discrimination in private sector; in fact she was a
victim of such discrimination:
19
02 04 06 08 0 100
When asked whether the discrimination in employment pushes people not to see any
future perspectives for them here in Kosovo, an impressive majority of respondents (85
percent) strongly agreed whilst just 1.2 percent of them strongly disagreed (Figure 5). In
general, this opinion was shared, more or less, proportionally among various categories
of respondents: Albanians, Serbians, and Bosniacs; educated and uneducated; employed
and unemployed; juniors and seniors; male and female, agreed that the discrimination in
employment pushes people not to see any future perspectives for them here in Kosovo.
20
02 04 06 08 0 100
Some professors of
Prishtine University
are exercising several
duties – lecturing at
public and at several
private universities;
in addition, they are
political advisers of
some ministers. At the
same time there are
a lot of young people
that have gained MA
or even PhD degrees at
famous international
universities, and they
never get a chance to
find job. These acts, on
the other hand, exclude Focus groups discussions clarified this strong relationship between discrimination
those precious people in employment and lose of hope in having a promising future for the people here in
from public life and ac- Kosovo; moreover, some participants said that discrimination in employment should be
cordingly they are being considered as the main factor that incites people to leave the country. As one Albanian
pushed to leave Kosovo
woman commented:
when they are needed
the most.
Albanian female, age 31 I have gained a diploma in Faculty of Philology at Prishtina
University eight years ago, and yet I have no job. Until now
I have applied for a job more than 40 times… For us that
don’t have political connections or money to bribe someone,
simply there is no job… Last time when I applied for a job in
the National and University Library of Kosovo, most of the
candidates had superior education; paradoxically, the person
who won the job had just secondary school… A friend of
mine who knew this girl told me that she had some political
connections that nobody can reject… As a result, in recent
times I am thinking to leave the country, because I can’t see
any future perspectives for me and my son here in Kosovo.
21
discrimination in employment pushes people to believe that there is no promising
future for them in Kosovo.
22
Perceptions regarding
the chances on
I thank God that Albert
Einstein was not born
advancement in society
in Kosovo; otherwise,
he would have re- And finally, the respondents were asked whether they thought that everyone could
mained a wasted talent move up in Kosovo society through hard work and education. The statistics were
– he never wouldn’t
have had the opportu-
extremely shocking; 92.6 percent or 1093 of respondents out of 1180 total, strongly
nity to make any of his disagreed (Figure 6). In general, there was no worth mentioning distinction among
scientific invention. respondents’ categories regarding this attitude: different groups of respondents,
Albanian male, such as: juniors and seniors; employed and unemployed; Albanians, Serbians,
MA student of linguistics
and Bosniacs; male and female disagreed that everyone could move up in Kosovo
society through hard work and education.
02 04 06 08 0 100
23
that the only way to succeed in their society is hard work and education. It is then
and only then that we can expect from our citizens to live honestly; and, of course
to build a system of values which will be defended and promoted with commitment
by all of us”.
Debate within focus groups highlighted participants’ concerns that the preferential
recruitment causes the losing of talented people which is very risky. As one
participant said:
24
Conclusions and recommendations
The research sought to examine whether the principle of equal opportunity is being
respected in areas of employment such as recruitment, training and promotion; therefore,
the study, through qualitative and quantitative methods, aimed at illuminating citizens’
perceptions regarding a) what is more valid: merit or different connections to find a job
in Kosovo, b) whether there is discrimination in employment in public and private sector
and consequences of this discrimination; and, c) the significance of education and hard
work for advancement in Kosovo society.
What emerges from this study is a picture of problems Kosovo’s employment system
faces with. Although there was a broad consensus regarding the labor market
discrimination, the perceptions of respondents vary to some degree; those affected by
discriminatory practices are more likely to be aware of the existence of such practices
and this plays a crucial role in shaping their perceptions of inequalities of opportunity
in access to employment. Overall, the findings of the research suggest that Kosovo
employment pattern is based purely on preferential style of hiring. And furthermore,
citizens were confident that the negligence of political authorities has determined this
situation; in other words, political commitments about building a society where diversity
will be respected and nurtured were just formal – reality is that, to political authorities,
diversity is just a meaningless word.
Therefore, the survey results revealed that the labor market discrimination in Kosovo is
certainty; there is a systemic discrimination against certain groups of people in public and
private sector. The discrimination is made on basis of political ground; people that are
not engaged politically have fewer chances to find a job in Kosovo. What is more, research
participants were clearly certain that finding a job in Kosovo is determined from having
political connections rather than having qualifications.
Ethnic minorities are also treated less fairly; both men and women receive poorer
treatment. This finding suggests that, women from minorities are disadvantaged by
25
gender and ethnicity; therefore, being a woman and from an ethnic minority is doubly
disadvantageous. And, last but certainly not least, research findings suggest that in
Kosovo’s employment system occurs discrimination on the ground of age or ageism.9 This
kind of discrimination is pervasive and very dynamic in Kosovo; moreover, it happens at
many points in the employment areas, although mostly on the interview stage.
The research also revealed two very worrying findings; the labor market discrimination
pushes citizens to leave the country. Are worthy to be noted the concerns of participants
regarding the intentional exclusion of valuable people by political leadership – those
precious people who criticize the politicians for their actions. And second, the top
worrying finding of this research, suggests that a large percentage of research participants
(92.6 percent), strongly disagreed that, everyone could move up in Kosovo society through
hard work and education; in view of that, this dominant perception, the focus groups
participants agreed, has a lot of adverse political consequences such as, perpetuating of
inequalities, weak institutions, death of new ideas and increase of apathy.
Confronting the challenge of equal opportunity, and consequently building a fair and
inclusive society, is a continuing responsibility for all political actors, including civil society
and active citizenry. As a result, the following recommendations should be taken into
consideration:
The prompt passage of the Law on Labor – aiming establishing a legal labor
infrastructure in Kosovo, in accordance with EU legislation, which excludes all kinds
of discrimination.
Designing the legal and regulative framework for Equal Opportunity Policy
(EOP) – aiming to combat discrimination on ground of political affiliation or
conviction, gender, age, ethnicity and disability (this research suggests that these
“target groups” are affected by discrimination in employment). Moreover, due to
its multi – ethnicity and other specifics, in Kosovo should be implemented EOP’s
9 According to Whitehouse (in Oswick & Rosenthal, 2001, pp. 156 – 161), “ageism is discrimination against
people on the basis of chronological age”. For more information see: Oswick, C. & Rosenthal, P. 2001, ‘Towards a
Relevant Theory of Age Discrimination in Employment’, in Equality, Diversity and Disadvantage in Employment,
eds. M. Noon & E. Ogbonna, Palgrave, London.
26
based on both a) the “liberal” approach of equality of opportunity, that relies on fair
4 Affirmative action (AA)
can be defined as at-
procedures, and on the principle of recognizing individual merit, and b) the “radical”
tempt to make progress toward approach, that emphasizes the fair and equal distribution of rewards, and of course,
substantive, rather than merely positive discrimination.10
formal, equality of opportunity
for designated groups, which
are currently underrepresented Design and implement fair and effective Affirmative Actions Programs (AA),11 –
in significant positions in
society, by explicitly taking into attempting to create a society in which individuals or groups are not stigmatized
account the defining charac- or excluded from opportunities on the ground of political affiliation or conviction,
teristics, which have been the ethnicity, age, disability and gender. The core idea is that organizations, under supe-
basis for discrimination.
Affirmative action (AA) mea- rvision of governmental mechanisms, should act in accordance with AA programs;
sures include: accordingly, they must act positively and affirmatively to remove all barriers that
a) measures to identify and
eliminate employment barriers prevent “targeted groups” from having equal access to employment. Moreover,
affecting designated groups; b) organizations (employers) might be held legally liable for cases of discrimination on
measures designed to further
diversity in the workplace based ground of political affiliation or conviction, gender, age, ethnicity, and disability.
on equal dignity of all people,
and c) making reasonable
Establishing the National Equal Opportunity Commission (NEOC) – aiming to
accommodation for people
from designated groups to fulfill the Constitutional promise of equality in all its dimensions. The NEOC
ensure equal opportunities should focus on advisory, advocacy and auditing functions; in addition, it will be
at workplaces for those from
designated groups. responsible for handling complaints about discrimination of “targeted groups”
under the future anti – discrimination legislation (including existing Anti –
(Source: Mullen in
Crosby 1994, pp. 13 – 41) Discrimination Law). Therefore, the mandate of NEOC will be to work towards
creating a public environment where problems relating to inequality of opportunity
will receive careful consideration; and, the scope should include public and private
organizations.
10 Probably the most influential intervention in the area of evaluating Equal Opportunities Policies (EOPs)
was the contribution of Jewson and Mason (1986). These authors pointed out that there are two approaches
of equal opportunity – the “liberal” and the “radical” approach. In addition, ‘target groups’ are those groups of
people affected by discrimination in employment. For more information see: Richards, W. 2001, ‘Evaluating
Equal Opportunities Initiatives: The Case for a ‘Transformative’ Agenda’, in Equality, Diversity and Disadvantage in
Employment, eds. M. Noon & E. Ogbonna, Palgrave, London.
11 According to Soni (1999, pp. 577 – 589), Affirmative Action, is one of the “most significant public policies
of the 20th century, and can be seen as an attempt to establish a more ‘inclusive moral convention’, which
aims at achieving fairness and equality for all members of society”. Affirmative Action goes beyond Equality
of Opportunity; moreover, “Affirmative Action (AA) is as much a moral issue as it is an anti – discriminatory
measure”. For more information see: Soni, V. 1999, ‘Morality vs. Mandate: Affirmative Action in Employment’,
Public Personnel Management, Vol. 28, pp. 577 – 589.
27
Appendix
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
QUESTIONNAIRE
Initially the survey with questionnaire was conducted. According to Birmingham &
Wilkinson (2003, p. 7) the questionnaires represent an effective way of collecting data
in a structured and manageable form. They are an economical (quick and easy) way to
gather data from a potentially large number of respondents; moreover, questionnaires
allow triangulation, since they are very useful with other methods. Very often they
are the only possible way to reach a number of respondents, large enough, to allow
statistically analysis of the results, which on the other hand is another advantage of
questionnaires – the use of numbers allows greater precision in reporting results.
Therefore, from 15 to 26 September 2008, KIMP (Kosovar Institute for Media and Policy)
conducted a survey of public perceptions on how kosovars view the employment
practices and procedures in their country; more accurately, is the principle of equal
opportunity taken into consideration or the Kosovo employment policy is based entirely
on preferential way of recruitment. A sampling design consisted of a multi stages random
selection method. Hence, the sample was representative, well chosen and included 1180
respondents of voting age – 60 percent rural vs. 40 percent urban; accordingly, at the 95
percent confidence level, this sample has a margin of error of 2.85 percentage points.12
12 The margin of error in a sample is a measurement of how accurately the results of the poll reflect the ‘true’
sentiment of the whole population. If people are selected randomly and some basic statistical assumptions are
made, the mathematical formula for the margin of error is:
Margin of error (95%) = 1.96 x 0.5(1 – 0.5); for more information see: Austin, W. E. & Pinkleton,
√ n
E. B. 2006, Strategic Public Relations Management: Planning and Managing Effective Communication Programs,
Routledge, London.
28
FOCUS GROUPS
TRIANGULATION
29
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