Analysis of Correlation between Race and Employment in the UK - Essay Example

How in contemporary British society gender, social and race shape young people’s experiences of risk? Table of Contents S.No Heading Page No Introduction 3 2 Analysis of Correlation between Race and Employment in UK 3 8 Conclusion 18 9 List of References 19 Table of Graphs and Tables S.No Heading Page No 1 Graph 1- “2011- Population of Britain– By Ethnic Cluster “ 4 2 Chart 2- BAME (Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic) Participation in Management 9 Chart 3- BAME – Recruitment rates- Conversion from application to hire 9 Chart 4 – Questionnaire 16 Chart 5- Drivers Stopped by Ethnic Group in the past two years 17 Chart 6- Section 163 stops over the last twenty-four months 18 3 Table 1 – Unemployment by Age and Ethnic Background 5 Table 2- Unemployment by length of unemployment and by ethnic group 6 Introduction A youth may be impacted with the risk of being treated less favourably mainly due to his racial background. A less favourable treatment means that it is not comparable to the treatment that is being received by a youth of another race, which is known as comparator. A non-white youth is facing risk in his job who is given a less favourable treatment since he is supposed to be no British. Under racial discrimination, youths in UK are impacted badly in recruitment, training, promotion, transfer or other advantageous position. Thus, due to their race, they may be subjected to detriment in their job (Kassem, Murphy and Taylor 2010). This research study will analyse in detail how in contemporary British society gender, social class and race shape young people’s experiences of risk. 2. Analysis of Correlation between Race and Employment in UK In UK, the term race includes any nationality, colour, national or ethnic origins. Colour connotes any colour including brown, white and black. (Rhodes 2009). To claim legal protection, an ethnic group in UK should have an extensive communal history and should have its own cultural customs. Other factors that will be taken into account for establishing an ethnic group are the geographical origin, shared language or religion. In UK, Jews and Sikhs have demonstrated that they are an ethnic group while Muslims and Rastafarians have not. Hence, they can claim discrimination in employment on the basis of religious discrimination and not under racial discrimination. For instance, an obligation that all employees should wear a helmet while driving a motorbike could be considered as a disadvantage for a Sikh employee as he wears a turban as per his religious rule and due to that fact, he may not be able to wear a helmet. Such obligation by an employer would be considered as illegal unless it could be demonstrated by the employer that it is essential for the efficient performance by the employee in the job (Slater & Gordon 2014). Graph 1- “2011- Population of Britain– By Ethnic Cluster “ From the above graph, we can understand the ethnic group in UK constitutes 14% of its total population as of 2011 whereas it was just 5.5% in 1991. From the above graph, one can understand that there are large differences in the representations of various minorities’ ethnic groups. For instance, Indians are the largest minority ethnic group trailed by Pakistanis, black Caribbeans and others. Further, Indian cluster includes a variety of various religious groups, and the preponderances of the same are Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Bangladeshi and Pakistani clusters are predominantly comprised of Muslim. Thus, Muslims can be said to be the largest ethnic minority group in UK. The term Caribbean denotes to people of African lineage who have settled in UK from the Caribbean Islands. They are also known as black British, black African or simply black (Thompson Solicitors 2014). Table 1 – Unemployment by Age and Ethnic Background (Dar & Mirza-Davies 2015) Youths and children are certainly impacted by the socio-economic scenarios of the families. Black groups in the British society have been experiencing economic deprivation and disadvantage due to the poor housing, low income, unemployment and restricted educational opportunities. As per Macpherson (1999), the ubiquitous nature of racial disadvantage and discrimination and especially racism at institutions, has been regularly buttressed by academic research and public inquiries into the race relations (Macpherson 1999). Modood et al (1997) found that there existed vast variances between varied minority groups as regards to employment patterns. He observed that Caribbean youth were unemployed 31% as compared to their white colleagues whereas Pakistanis and Bangladeshis’ youth unemployment remained at 38% and 42% respectively (Modood et al 1997). Wrench & Solomos (1993) found that there had been high magnitudes of unemployment, enhanced involvement in self-employment and experiences of racial discrimination in employment. As per OPCS (1993), it is obvious that redundancy and unemployment among minority ethnic group is somewhat greater than of whites (OPCS 1993). Oppenheim and Harker (1996) found that minority ethnic youth are “more at peril of low pay, unemployment, bad working conditions and lesser social security privileges (Oppenheim and Harker 1996). Table 2- Unemployment by length of unemployment and by ethnic group (Dar & Mirza-Davies 2015) Waldinger et al (1990) found that there is a strong association between racial discrimination and unemployment figures (Waldinger et al 1990). Further Luthra (1997) exposed that in 1970 and 1990, when there was an enhanced risk of unemployment, there was an increase in the figures of self-employment among ethnic minorities at a greater magnitude than amongst whites (Barn 2001). As per Platt (2011), the inequality is estimated to be greater amongst Indians which differs with the religion and very low as regards to African Americans As per Longhi and Platt (2008), for major ethnic minority groups, pay scales are very low with the exceptions being Chinese or Indian. Further, ethnic minority group peoples are seen predominantly in low-skilled jobs, and they are not represented in higher-paid jobs, particularly, in managerial jobs. As per Battu et al., (2011), many elements have been recognised as contributing factor to ethnic variances in labour market performance such as cultural preferences, racial discrimination, and lesser education, lesser desire to engage in job search, not having adequate English language knowledge and non-use of available networks by ethnic minorities (Lalani et al 2014 :9). Some researchers have identified the issue of location which may impact labour market presence of ethnic minorities since they are residing in places where there exists poor employment chances. Clark and Drinkwater (2007) found that minority ethnic groups were disproportionately less likely to be in jobs if they hail from highly deprived provinces as contrasted with the white British citizens. As per Garner & Bhattacharyya (2011), job opportunities are impacted due to the nature of locality where minority ethnic people reside and this have greater influence on their access to job, social networks and services(Lalani et al 2014 :43). In social psychology, social cognition theory is a renowned area of research. It pertains to individual’s conviction, demeanours and styles of thought, which impact their interpersonal decision-making and demeanour. Thus, individual’s social cognition happens below the level of conscious awareness, and they retort in a manner they cannot just illustrate but that “look correct” to them. Social cognition includes stereotypes, anticipations, roles, and prejudices. As per Reskin (2000), organisational factors have a higher impact than individual factors in deciding the rigorousness and frequency of discrimination in the workplace. As per Reskin (2000), individual factors that minimise individuals’ chances of branding employees as out-groups versus in-group members, performing on prejudiced automatic cognitive processes and permitting the stereotypic opinions of others to manoeuvre their decisions, especially in appointment and promotion (Paludi et al 2011:140). Disparate treatment theory is said to happen when on the face, an unbiased employment practice or selection process has the impact of disqualifying a disproportionate number of ethnic minority applicants and in this case, the discrimination will be always unintentional. It is not material whether the employer aims to discriminate or not and only the employment results are significant. For instance, NHS and local authorities are claiming that top manager’s positions could not be filled due to non-availability of skilled applicants from ethnic minority communities (Robinson & Franklin 2014:93). From the following graph, we can understand that just 3.3.% of the executive directors in UK are black and as per ISS Corporate Services UK research study of 2012 , about 92% of the Board of Directors of FTSE 100 companies are Caucasian or white . This clearly demonstrates how racism plays a significant role in higher managerial positions in UK. Thus, from the following graphs, we can understand that there exists both social cognition theory and desperate treatment theory approach for in the recruitment, selection, training, promotion of ethnic minority community applicants in UK. Chart 2- BAME (Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic) Participation in Management a (Hobson 2013). The following chart shows how ethnic minorities witness racism in the selection for employment process in UK ‘ Chart 3- BAME – Recruitment rates- Conversion from application to hire (Hobson 2013) From the above chart, one can understand that out of BAME applicants for a prospective job in UK, only half of them is having chance to get employment and main reason for the rejection is cited as racism. The risk of racial discrimination in the workplace can occur in UK while interviewing and shortlisting of candidates for a job. Further, the employer may show discrimination upon the terms on which the employment is offered. Further, an employer may deliberately neglect or decline to issue offer letters to ethnic minority applicants. An employer may show discrimination in job to ethnic minorities in the chances for transfer , promotion , training or other advantages , services or facilities, which are offered by him. An employer may engage in a summary dismissal of an ethnic minority employee without adequate grounds or without following adequate procedures (Thompson Solicitors 2014). As per Nandi & Platt (2010), more than 50% African Caribbean , Indian , Black African and Chinese people living in UK were projected to be in poverty as contrasted with white British and in the case Bangladeshi and Pakistanis , the unemployment rate was estimated to be more than 75%. Earlier, many Indian migrant women were able to function economically and socially in UK even without learning and speaking English. Since, there are high magnitudes of Indians in the UK population, the need for English knowledge was especially low. Traditionally, UKs hosiery industry offered employment opportunities to Indian women where there was no need for English knowledge. Nonetheless, in the recent days, as the prospect for hosiery industry is bleak, and it is being replaced with service sector jobs demanding English knowledge. This has minimised the employment prospects for ethnic minority women who did not aware English knowledge in UK. Thus, this factor had resulted in the risk of comparatively low employment rates and economic activities of Indian women in UK. (“Nandi & Platt 2010”). As per Sullivan et al, (2013), parental class is playing a crucial role on employment opportunities and educational accomplishments of ethnic minorities in UK. “McCabe, et al., (2013)” found that the probability of employment success for ethnic minorities in UK will be depending upon social networks that have been ranked by class lines, which again buttress socio-economic difficulties. Cultural variances impacting women’s labour market activities were visible among ethnic minorities in UK. Due to their race, African Caribbeans’ are witnessing changes in job frequently and for Pakistanis, gender influences to be the most visible factor in their employment opportunities in UK (Sullivan et al 2013). Teachers from ethnic minority communities are of the view that they are witnessing racism both from colleagues and pupils. Black teachers are of the view that in educational institutions in UK, white teachers are in majority and they are frozen-out by total white colleagues from whom help or assistance cannot be expected. A number of interviewees in Luton commented that there is a need for African Caribbeans in Luton to shift or travel to London for better employment opportunities, mainly due to racism (Lalani et al 2014:5). Reduced employment opportunities may happen due to locational concentration into extremely deprived areas. For instance, in Leicester, the availability of public transport is not feasible after the early evening hours, mainly due to crime concerns, which is an area where there is high concentration of Pakistanis population reside. This has resulted in the lesser employment opportunities for those who work in shifts for the employees from this area. Tunstall et al (2012) buttressed the significance of accessible public transport for employment opportunities for ethnic minorities in UK (Tunstall et al 2012). By evaluating Labour Force Survey data , Race for Opportunity study found that among ten employed people , only one is from non-white in UK and only one in sixteen top management roles is being occupied by an ethnic minority person. Since 2007, this gap has broadened. Further , some managers from ethnic minorities are found dominated in specific sectors – with Chinese ,Pakistani and Bangladeshi manager are probable to function in the hotels , distribution and catering sectors , where firms seem to be smaller ones, and they offer only low-paid jobs. (Clark 2014). Some minority employees allege that because they belong to a minority group, the due promotion is denied to them by the employer. Further, some allege that they are subject to harassment, mainly due to the fact that their partner is an African black. Some minorities allege that they are stopped from involving in job training as they belong to Asian origin. These actions can be referred as direct discrimination against ethnic minorities in the workplaces. Ethnic minority job applicants allege that the employer extends a practice, criterion or provision (PCP) which places some racial clusters at a specific disadvantage as contrasted to those who do not belong to the same racial cluster which the employer cannot validate. This is also known as discrimination through backdoors. Thus, for example, where a Birmingham sports store declined to evaluate the job applicants from suburbs of Birmingham where half of the minority populations are residing , it was held by the Employment Tribunal that a criterion for a candidate should not be from Birmingham resulted in unlawful criterion or condition. This is mainly based on the fact that such criterion might place those applicants from a specific racial cluster at a disadvantage when contrasted with white applicants (Thompson Solicitors 2014). Some minority employees allege that they face harassment in the works place and this refers to undesirable demeanour pertaining to race, which has the objective or impact of infringing an individual’s self-esteem or of establishing a hostile, intimidating, humiliating, degrading or offensive atmosphere. The meaning of harassment also includes to those exposed to the undesirable demeanour due to the other individual’s race (Keith 1993). For instance, an employee who is facing aggressive remarks about his Caribbean black partner is subject to harassment in the works places. Undesirable demeanour includes the written or spoken word, graffiti, jokes or other demeanour (Thompson Solicitors 2014). . Many research studies have recognised segregation as an element contributing to employment performance, restricting the efficacy of social networks and strengthening cultural norms of part played by women as a carer instead of a wage earner for some of the ethnic groups. Nonetheless, the qualitative research carried over by employing 2011 Census data demonstrated that segregation was widely present in higher magnitude, especially for Pakistanis and in smaller magnitude for Caribbean Africans. Self-employment seemed to worsen social segregation, particularly in ethnic communities in UK. As per Battu et al (2011), ethnic communities in UK are excessively settled in the provinces of high deprivation. This will hinder their access to jobs, by lessening the availability of informal recruitment networks and restricting self-employment opportunities. In public sector undertakings like National Health Services (NHS) and local authorities, ethnic minority groups are being stated as being under-represented in higher-level jobs. Further, there is an allegation against National Health Service and local authorities, unlawful discrimination is shown to ethnic minorities followed by victimisation and harassment. It is alleged ethnic minorities are not treated equally and NHS and local authorities have failed to develop good relations between different clusters of ethnic minorities (Thompson Solicitors 2014). The reason for this is being given to significance of networking for such employment opportunities and perhaps, the ethnic minorities definitely have networked badly as compared to the white decision-makers. Hudson, et al (2013) found that in certain business organisations, there is a wide fissure between actual workplace practices and formal equal opportunities. This includes discriminatory development procedures that are footed upon on the employees’ social networks in the workplace. Some Councils defend about they are not able to provide employment opportunities to ethnic minorities due to lack of skill or experience of ethnic minority applicants (Hudson et al 2013). The overall perception is that there is a lack of eagerness by some public sector organisations in UK to promote racial equality. “Hudson et al.,” exposed that such unofficial practices of line managers could result in disadvantages to ethnic minority employees (Hudson et al 2013). As per EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) research study in 2012, UK police officials are up to twenty-eight times more probable to employ stop and search authority against ethnic minority people as contrasted to white people and thus, involved in the infringement of law. EHRC, UK evaluated the police stop authority where officials do not need suspicion of involvement in crime as famously known as section 60 stops (Patel & Tyrer 2011). About 258,000 stop & search powers were used between 2008 and 2011 by the Metropolitan police where Merseyside police had used the power for 40,940 times and some area, police officials had rarely used the authority under section 60 stops. The above statistics indicate that a Met officer is likely use section 60 stops 30 times to stop an ethnic minority person instead of a white person outside London. The EHRC disclosed that in 2008 and 2009 alone, the Met police stopped 68 individuals out of every one thousand ethnic minority persons in its province. This fell down to 32.8 per one thousand in the year 2010-2011. In the other provinces of England, the figure fell down to 1.2 stops per one thousand ethnic minority individuals by 2010-2011(Dodd 2012). As per EHRC study, though the aggregate usage of section 60 power had declined sharply, but the excessive usage of the authority against ethnic minorities, which is called as “racial disproportionality” had increased or even continued. EHRC report disseminated that there had been a sharp increase in the percentage of ethnic minorities among those stopped under section 60 between 2008 and 2011 remained at 64% as compared to earlier year figure of 51% (Dodd 2012). EHRC is of the opinion that police may be infringing their legal accountabilities, which is recognised as the” pubic-sector equality duty”. Thus, any prolonging and grave unbalanced usage of these authorities against ethnic minorities may result in that the Home Office, and the police are not adhering with their public-sector duties responsibilities. As per EHRC, through the employment of section 60 alone, ethnic minorities in UK experienced in excess of 100,000 searches over 2008 and 2011. As per EHRC, ethnic minority youth are still being unnecessarily beleaguered and many in the community will view it as racial profiling (Dodd 2012). Theresa May, Home Secretary of the present Coalition government of UK is of the opinion that if an individual is from ethnic minority or black, then, such individuals are up to 7 times more probable to be examined and stopped by the police than if the individual is white. A Scotland Yard official was corrected in 2013 for discriminating against Stuart. Stephen’s younger brother, Stuart, who was stalked and stopped while driving his vehicle. In 1993, at the age of eighteen, Stephen was stabbed to death in an unprovoked racist attack at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London. In the public inquiry into his death blamed Scotland Yard being “institutionally “racist (Macpherson 1999). Stuart commented that he had been under attack, mainly due to his colour of his skin and exposed that he had been examined and stopped by police about twenty-five times right from the age of seventeen (Slack 2015). As per research study carried out by HMIC in 2015 (Her Majesty Inspectorate of Constabulary) , 47% of the 10,094 interviewees replied that their vehicle is stopped by the police at some juncture of their lives and 5% of them reporting that they were stopped by the police in the immediate twelve months. The above HMIC survey also found that ethnic minority and black interviewees were more probable than white interviewees to consider that the power is prejudicially directed towards ethnic minority people. HMIC survey pointed out that seven to eight percent of white drivers were halted in the past twenty-four months as contrasted with ten to fourteen percent of ethnic minority and black drivers. Further, in the case of halting of ethnic minority and black vehicles by police, drivers are probable not to be offered with reasons for the halt and more probable to have their car examined , and may be more probable to be subject of a search on his person. Minority and black ethnic drivers are more likely to be detained , more probable to be given a fixed penalty notice and issued with a notice of prosecution or be advised of a proposed prosecution (HMIC 2015 :7). In the HMIC survey 2015, for the question, whether the police prejudicially aim people from ethnic minorities to stop their vehicle , 36% of the interviewees vibrantly consented and 37% consented that the UK police detrimentally besieged ethnic minorities where only just 9% dissenting. For mixed race and Asian British groups, the reply demonstrated that over half of the interviewees either vibrantly consenting or agreeing with the statement (HMIC 2015:53). Chart 4 – Questionnaire (HMIC 2015:53). In the above survey, about 10 to 14% of the ethnic minority drivers reported that their vehicle was stopped by the police in the last twenty-four months where just 7 to 8% of white drivers reported that their vehicle was stopped during the same period. The British Crime Survey 2010/11 indicated that about one in ten people (9%) in UK had been in a vehicle which was halted or stopped by the police in the last year(HMIC 2015:54). Chart 5- Drivers Stopped by Ethnic Group in the past two years (HMIC 2015:54). The above graph shows that BME groups were predominantly targeted in vehicle check as compared to their white counterparts. The following graph demonstrates that BME groups were mainly targeted for vehicle search, no reason tendered for stop, and person is searched as compared to their white counterparts. However, in detaining, issuing fixed penalty notice UK police had booked 30% of the whites after a stop and search whereas only 20% of BME groups were detained and issued fixed penalty notice(HMIC 2015:54). Chart 6- Section 163 stops over the last twenty-four months (HMIC 2015:54). 3-Conclusion Racism is a recurring phenomenon which is minimising employment opportunities and enhancing the poverty among ethnic minorities in UK. Racism is in existence through discrimination in recruitment, denial of promotion and not acknowledging the ethnic minority employees’ talent and knowledge. Direct corroboration of racism differing by place is highlighted by blacks in Luton, who are travelling daily to London to snub racism, which impeded their career advancement. Though Equality Act in force, it could not stop racial profiling in the workplaces in UK. 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