The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is in the midst of a major investigation into the participation of ethnic minority women in the labour market and their experience with pay, and progression to higher salary levels. As part of this they have put together some challenging resources on their website. How effective can career guidance be in the face of these barriers
Ethnic minority women are being asked to take part in an online survey, and information is also being gathered from unions, voluntary organisations, professional networks, businesses, and public bodies. Details of the Moving on up? project are available on the EOC web site at Ethnic Minority Women and Work - the site is asking for individuals and employers to get in touch with their own stories, but you can also access some great (if depressing) quotes from ethnic minority women talking about their experiences of trying to access the labour market. Can guidance make any difference in the face of all this?
A selection of real life quotes from women who have contacted the EOC about their own experiences at work.
"I am only 26 but have many things going against me: female, married, Asian, traditional child-bearing age"
Pakistani Muslim woman, IT sector
"I find that as I have an English name and speak very well, I am assumed to be English white but when I attend the interview, their faces, expressions and handshakes says it all. This kind of attitude has deterred me from entering the legal field and has kept me from my chosen profession"
Black Caribbean woman, secretarial – legal
"Both Westminster and the private sector are still made up of an 'old boys network' where initial assumptions about any woman, especially those from an ethnic minority background, are that they are the PA/admin assistant"
Pakistani woman, charity sector
"One of very few ethnic minority women at my grade. Experience barriers and resistance. Blocked from opportunities for progression".
Black African woman, public sector
"I was unable to find paid work for a period of two years. This was despite my obvious experience, knowledge and applications for jobs within my skills or for which I was over-qualified. It was only when I changed my first name to a more familiar form that I began to be called for interviews"
Pakistani and English woman, public sector
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