Almost half of young people from an ethnic minority background face prejudice and discrimination as they enter work in the UK, new research has found.
Research from Youth Futures Foundation revealed that 70% of young people who have faced discrimination have considered moving jobs – and most young people don’t think that reporting discrimination will make any difference.
With almost a quarter of the UK’s population below the age of 25 now from an ethnic minority background, and 12% – 851,000 – of people aged 16-24 not in employment, education, or training, the damage being caused by widespread discrimination on young people, employers and society is significant, stated the study.
Racism in the workplace
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In what is claimed to be the largest survey of young people from ethnic minority backgrounds carried out in the UK, interviewing 3,250 young people, Youth Futures finds that a third (33%) of young people have experienced racist remarks, jokes, or banter directed towards them in the workplace.
A further two-thirds (66%) have overheard a co-worker or supervisor make racist jokes or slurs, while one in five (20%) have also been referred to in a derogatory manner by colleagues, according to the research.
Sarah Yong, director of policy and communications at Youth Futures Foundation, said the findings were “shocking”. She added: “Understanding the barriers that young people face when accessing employment is crucial to then dismantling them. While our findings are shocking, our hope is that they will spur workplaces and policymakers to take action now to tackle discriminatory practices and ensure young people from ethnic minority backgrounds can access support and good opportunities.”
Almost a third (30%) of respondents who were not in education, employment, or training believed that prejudice or discrimination was the single biggest barrier preventing them from entering the workforce.
Young people taking part in the research also reported significant challenges around how businesses tackle discrimination within the workplace, with over two-thirds (69%) of young people who experience discrimination saying they haven’t reported it as they felt it would make no difference.
More than a third of respondents (38%) stated that their experiences of racism had led to a loss of self-confidence.
Young people interviewed agreed that prioritising work experience for those from ethnic minority backgrounds, and taking a zero-tolerance approach to tackling non-inclusive behaviour in the workplace were crucial in order to rectify the situation.
Youth Futures Foundation argues that policymakers need to consider mandating employers to publish ethnicity pay gaps, and that data on pay, working hours, promotion and representation in senior roles should be made public by organisations.
A spokesperson for the organisation added that “it is just as crucial that employers tackle the more subtle forms of discrimination head-on”.
Lord Woolley, board member at Youth Futures Foundation and founder of Operation Black Vote, said: “Failure to tackle widespread discrimination could damage young people in the most formative years of their careers. We cannot succeed as a nation if our young people are held back, but if we treat this evidence seriously, we can do better and give all young people a pathway to success.”
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