It takes Black and South Asian women almost twice as long as white women to find their first job (Picture: Getty)
On average, it takes Black and South Asian women in the UK at least two months longer than their white colleagues to secure their first job after leaving education – despite having more confidence
The research, from Totaljobs, found that after leaving education, it took Black women an average of 5.1 months to secure their first role, and South Asian women 4.9 months.
In comparison, it took white men 3.4 months and white women just 2.8 months to find their first job.
Totaljobs and The Diversity Trust have teamed up to produce a new report assessing the career journeys of Black and South Asian women in the UK.
The research found that Black and South Asian women have higher levels of confidence about their career trajectory than white colleagues, but face barriers to progression due to racism and sexism.
Before stepping into the world of work, 66% of Black women and 62% of South Asian women believed they could achieve anything in their future career; compared to just 38% of white women and 46% of white men.
Further into their careers, 64% of Black women and 62% of South Asian women are confident in their career trajectory – compared to 53% of white men and 43% of white women.
While these levels are still higher than their white colleagues, it shows that the levels of confidence felt by Black and South Asian women starts to wane when they enter employment; in comparison to the confidence of white colleagues, which increases drastically after they leave education.
Despite high levels of confidence, and the fact that three-fifths (59%) of Black and South Asian women believe their employer supports their ambitions, two thirds of these women at managerial level believe that their ethnicity and/or gender has impacted their progression into a position of leadership.
With this, 30% of Black and South Asian women at managerial level felt they had to work harder to reach their position than their colleagues and a fifth feel pressure to act as a role model.
Discrimination and associated pressures
The research also highlights the pressures and discrimination faced by Black and South Asian women as they progress throughout their careers.
Two thirds of Black and South Asian women (70% of Black women, 63% of South Asian women) felt the need to code-switch at work – i.e feeling the need to change the language they use, appearance, tone of voice, name, and mannerisms.
In addition, four fifths of Black and South Asian women (79%) say they have faced discrimination in the workplace, with less than a fifth of these women (17%) reporting it.
The research found that many Black and South Asian women felt unable to report incidents of discrimination because they didn’t feel comfortable in doing so (29%), had a lack of confidence in a resolution (25%), felt they would be penalised themselves …read more
Source:: Metro
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