I could point out the Class System Sketch predates the Two Ronnies by a decade - I think is was on TW3  (That Was The Week That Was), though it might have been The Frost Report. However Roy's comments got me thinking. He talks about the "old boys" club perception but I also got to thinking how do we know how prevalent that is? There is a lot of comment on this aspect on other threads as Roy mentions but it may be a very small but vocal minority. I have certainly come across it on many occasions in print but I can't recall ever meeting with an individual who had that opinion. If this is the case it may be that it is an easier issue to deal with than we first thought, or it may be that as most of my encounters are with IET registrants that Roy's comment about it being more of an issue in some other PEIs is valid (in which case tackling it becomes much more difficult).

As this is a discussion forum it is difficult to organise an investigation but if anyone has valid anecdotal evidence (along the lines of Roy's experience) to shed light on this it would be valuable in identifying where efforts need to be made to rectify this assumption that I am sure, at least within the IET, is unfounded.

Alasdair

I could point out the Class System Sketch predates the Two Ronnies by a decade - I think is was on TW3  (That Was The Week That Was), though it might have been The Frost Report. However Roy's comments got me thinking. He talks about the "old boys" club perception but I also got to thinking how do we know how prevalent that is? There is a lot of comment on this aspect on other threads as Roy mentions but it may be a very small but vocal minority. I have certainly come across it on many occasions in print but I can't recall ever meeting with an individual who had that opinion. If this is the case it may be that it is an easier issue to deal with than we first thought, or it may be that as most of my encounters are with IET registrants that Roy's comment about it being more of an issue in some other PEIs is valid (in which case tackling it becomes much more difficult).

As this is a discussion forum it is difficult to organise an investigation but if anyone has valid anecdotal evidence (along the lines of Roy's experience) to shed light on this it would be valuable in identifying where efforts need to be made to rectify this assumption that I am sure, at least within the IET, is unfounded.

Alasdair