Women of colour across the UK already know that experiencing racism at work is the norm. Fawcett Society and the Runnymede Trust have published this research, Broken Ladders: The myth of meritocracy for women of colour in the workplace, which reveals 75% of women of colour have experienced racism at work.
This research shows that every stage of the career journey, from entering work to senior leadership, women of colour are being locked out of reaching their true potential.
The report calls on employers to:
- implement effective, evidence based Anti-Racism Action Plans with clear and measurable targets, and regular monitoring and evaluation of progress.
- have clear and transparent processes for reporting racism, with multiple reporting routes, including options outside of line management structures.
- set structures that ensure line managers deliver equitable and fair promotion outcomes for all employees and make progression routes explicit and well-known rather than based on informal networks.
The report calls on the Government to:
- set-up and back a business-led initiative to tackle ethnicity and gender pay gaps and accelerate change on progression and representation.
- legislate to ban salary history questions and require salaries to be published on job advertisements.
