Ethnic & Racial Diversity in the Workplace

Ethnic diversity is possibly the most loaded inclusion and diversity topic in the workplace. We have collective experiences (e.g. colonialism, slavery and genocide) that people often don’t want to discuss and yet which sit behind some of our current inequalities.

The barriers in the way of greater ethnic diversity are linked with racial discrimination, and no one is comfortable talking about discrimination. However not having these conversations at work means we don’t create change.

Companies have worked hard to get rid of explicit racial discrimination which is easier to identify and to sanction. However, many unconscious and implicit biases are still at play which are harder to call out.

This e-learning module looks at the global picture of ethnic diversity in the workplace, considers some of the barriers in the way of making it better and shares some case studies of best practice.

Learning Objectives

We hope at the end of this lesson you will:

• Consider how and why certain minority groups have been excluded from the workplace
• Understand why the participation of all ethnic groups in the workplace is vital for employee happiness and business growth
• Get to grips with some of the key barriers in the way of ethnic diversity
• Learn some key interventions that can help improve ethnic diversity

For a taste of this module, watch this video by founder of the Hobbs Consultancy, Roxanne Hobbs, giving a short introduction.

Testimonials:

"I thought it was a fantastic short course with a lot of additional resources to dive into - I intend to read through as many of those resources as possible in my spare time over the next few weeks. I think, and hope, that it will be a really useful and thought provoking module for everyone at the IPA. I hope it has extremely high take up around the IPA." - Louise Hinchliffe, Associate Director of Professional Development, IPA.