The participation of ethnic minorities in self-employment has been a phenomenon of the British labour market for many decades. One area in which there has been a preponderance of ethnic minority groups, especially those of South Asian origin, has been the independent retail sector, where many set up what became commonly known as ‘corner shops’. This sector has experienced radical change in the last decade, which has posed a real threat to the livelihood of business owners, leading to a decline in the number and profitability of shops. Many of those which have survived have to face one of society’s social ills, racism. This study, based on semi-structured interviews, attempts to establish the degree of racial discrimination experienced by owners of small retail businesses in Glasgow, with a working hypothesis that racism in all its forms will not be conducive to encouraging potential entrepreneurs from ethnic minority backgrounds to establish new businesses, and hence racism is a barrier to entry.
The NHS faces a crisis in terms of staffing and recruitment. Many of the ethnic minority GPs in inner city areas throughout the UK are coming up to retirement age, and there is an insufficient supply of trainees to fill estimated vacancies. Over 2,000 nursing vacancies exist across the UK, and recruitment to the profession and retention within the profession are poor. Nurses have been recruited from overseas for the past 40 years, and are currently being recruited from Finland, Malaysia, and the West Indies, whilst doctors are being sought in India, Pakistan and Africa. Overseas recruitment is not a new phenomenon, and numerous studies have been carried out to examine equal opportunities and racial discrimination within the NHS. The aim of this paper was to examine ethnicity and equal opportunities within the Scottish NHS and record the levels of organisational awareness of ethnicity and equal opportunities' issues. The paper also examines the link between health service delivery to ethnic minorities and internal cultural attitudes to staff.
The issue of recruiting ethnic minorities into Britain’s public sector institutions has become a highly political one in recent years. One of the institutions that has been at the forefront of the government’s initiatives has been the armed forces. Under the direction of the Ministry of Defence, the forces have made progress in courting ethnic minorities. However, the advances have been limited. In view of this, the forces have been very anxious to gauge the views of minority groups in order to identify and address current gaps in policy. This article reports the results of a survey which was aimed at eliciting the responses of ethnic minorities to issues such as: the desirability of a military career; the extent of a family tradition of military service; the degree of awareness of measures to attract minorities; and suggestions that would help to recruit more ethnic minorities. The responses generated will serve to indicate the extent to which a reassessment of current recruiting strategies is required.
PurposeThe research was aimed at gauging the experiences of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff working in academic and research libraries across the UK, part of the higher education and public sector significantly under researched.Design/methodology/approachUsing an essentially qualitative approach involving a focus group and in-depth interviews, the research design aimed to capture the lived experiences of BAME library employees.FindingsBAME employees are very conscious of their ethnicity due to a feeling of being monitored and under pressure to perform to a higher standard. BAME staff are subjected to verbal racism including microaggression from co-workers. There is no adequate mechanism in place to address the concerns of BAME staff and represent their interests. BAME employees are overrepresented at lower ends of the profession and are not encouraged by line managers to pursue promotion opportunities leading to a distinct lack of diversity at the top level of academic libraries.Research limitations/implicationsThere are implications for the work experience and career development of BAME library staff, for the leadership and management of libraries and the wider higher education sector to reflect upon.Originality/valueBased on real life experiences of BAME staff, this research plugs a gap in a neglected area of the public and higher education sector and provides an opportunity for managers of academic libraries to reflect on the issues raised and consider interventions.
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