Racial Inclusion Group survey
Our Racial Inclusion Group (RIG) was launched in early 2021. The group seeks to better understand the lived and professional experiences of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) members and will report to the Law Society Council with recommendations later this year.
To help them gather up-to-date information, the group is looking for solicitors, solicitor advocates, trainee solicitors and current law students/recent graduates from an ethnic minority background to share their experiences in an online survey.
The feedback received will build on previous research undertaken on behalf of the Society to better shape the Racial Inclusion Group's views in advance of a series of focus groups, which it will hold in due course.
Previous research
In 2011, the Law Society commissioned research into experiences of solicitors from an ethnic minority background. The Blake Stevenson Report focused on the experience of those from an ethnic minority background at each stage of their legal career and provided a number of conclusions and recommendations in order to improve approaches to equality across the legal profession and demonstrate our commitment towards diversity.
More recently, in December 2018, we published our latest Profile of the Profession report. This report had a particular focus on equality and diversity in the Scottish solicitor profession. However, among its findings, there continued to be issues related to both gender and ethnicity.
Since the publication of this report, and in order to increase access to the profession and improve the experience of those from an ethnic minority background in Scotland who are either practising or considering a career in the law, we have, among other things:
- Expanded the Street Law programme to include members of faith groups
- Continued to support the Scottish Ethnic Minorities Lawyers’ Association (SEMLA)
- Provided unconscious bias training to the profession
Additional
