Ethnic minorities still lack equal opportunities, MSPs report

Racial and ethnic minorities are still disadvantaged in the Scottish labour market despite 40 years of legislation, training initiatives and equality policies, according to a report by the Scottish Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee published today.

It follows a six-month inquiry by the committee, which examined barriers faced by ethnic minorities in accessing training and employment and how these can be tackled.

The committee found that although they largely perform better academically than white Scots, people from an ethnic minority background are on average more likely to be unemployed or in low-paid work, and are underrepresented in senior management positions.

It concludes that initiatives such as “unconscious bias” training are not the solution and can serve to mask underlying negative attitudes towards people from an ethnic minority background. The report calls on the Scottish Government to show leadership in tackling the deep-seated issues that persist, through long term, practical action, including:

• encouraging the use of public sector procurement contracts as a way of opening up jobs to ethnic minority groups who are underrepresented in certain industries;
• the Government's Fair Work Convention working with senior figures across the public sector and, where possible, the private sector to tackle the problem and engage with stakeholders to share and promote best recruitment practices;
• working with public bodies to ensure that policies on work experience, work placements and internships are equality assessed, and that ministers consider setting equality targets;
• working with employment services to provide targeted support and advice to new migrants including giving consideration to increasing the provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages training;
• raising public bodies’ awareness on racial equality issues in the workplace by ensuring that training, mentoring and shadowing opportunities are open to all and are promoted to all; using open recruitment, diverse interview panels and equality-related questions in interviews and providing high-quality post-interview feedback for all job applicants.

Committee convener Margaret McCulloch MSP commented: “Scotland prides itself on being a welcoming country. But the Committee heard that many employers still do not value diversity in the workplace or see it as a positive goal.

“We were told that regardless of their ethnic background, ethnic minority young people are still performing better but are not seeing any kind of benefit in the labour market as a result.”

She added: “We can only progress if we refuse to accept current defective recruitment practices and challenge segregation within employment. Without confronting existing practices, we cannot address any underlying racism and discrimination that the evidence confirms exists. Fail to act now, and we risk placing an ‘ethnic penalty’ on Scotland’s young people.”

Click here to view the committee's report.