Inequality Faced by Minority Ethnic Groups in Employment

INEQUALITY MINORITY ETHNIC GROUPS FACE IN EMPLOYMENT
The above title suggests that you are looking only at the experiences of people who are in
employment. What about those who are outside the employment? Surely they are also with ion
the scope of your report. Put a more appropriate title such as - report on the experiences of
inequality people from minority ethnic communities face in employment

Introduction:
Inequality in the workplace has been an issue for decades where employees are treated
not based on their performance but on their socio-economic backgrounds. Workplace
inequality is a barrier that allows discriminating employees on the basis of their age,
sex, race, religion, culture or sexual orientation (Goh, Pfeffer and Zenios 2015). This
report aims to discuss one such inequality that exists profoundly in society, more
precisely in the workplace. This report will discuss the nature and extent of inequality
faced by minority ethnic groups in employment followed by an evaluation of policies and
approaches in order to address the inequality in the workplace.
Discussion:
An ethnic minority group can be defined as a group of people who are different in
various aspects such as race or colour or national, religious or cultural origin from the
group that is dominant in that specific area. The dominant group is usually the majority
population in a country or nation. The ethnic minority is the group of people who are
less in number comparative to the majority group of people. The different identity of the
ethnic minority can be in many forms including their lifestyle, language, accent, dress or
food habits. Moral values, economic and political beliefs or any specific another attitude
can be considered as a factor making a group ethnic minority (Arbona and Jimenez
2014).
Typically, a minority group is not easily accepted by a larger society where they are a
member. Although the UK unemployment rate is standing at 39 per cent, its lowest level
since the November 1974- January 195 period, the minorities have been constantly

facing the struggle in this sector. The working age population in 2017 was under 40
million out of which 34 million were whites and approximately 60 million people were
from other ethnic groups. This counted 4 per cent population as unemployed from the
economically active population. When compared with the white people who count 4 per
cent, the other ethnic groups consists of 8 per cent. Among the 8 per cent the Pakistani
and Bangladeshi ethnic groups have the highest rate unemployment in 2017. Looking at
every region of UK, employment rates are higher for the people from ethnic minorities
when compared with the white people. (Pensions 2019)
Often the nature of the relationship between the larger society and the minority group
tend to be the deciding factor of the way the ethnic minority group lives in the society.
Minorities involving BME and women are faced with several challenges across their
lifespan. One such area of struggle for minorities is the employment sector and the
workplaces. Prejudice is often seen occurring in the workplaces for the minority groups.
Some of the prominent inequalities experienced by them are pay gap and occupational
segregation. According to report, Bangladeshis and Pakistani households earns about a
third less on average compared to the median for white families. The gap is about 8,900
and 8,700 pounds respectively. Also, in the Black African families the earnings are
typically fifth times less than white families (Ft.com. 2019). Looking at the occupational
segregation, vertical segeration is observed. Vertical segregation is observed as where
the people belong from the minorities ethnic groups do not get jobs above a particular
rank in organizations due to their ethnic background or race. They are deprived of
some groups of accessing to their economic freedom, using resources or obtaining a
powerful position. Minority groups are the victim of dominance, discrimination, and