One in four employees said they have felt held back in their careers due to discrimination in relation to either their ethnicity, sexuality, religion, age or gender, revealed in a new study by recruiter, Barrington Hibbert Associates.
The research also found that 27% of respondents agreed that diversity and inclusion in their workplace was at best an average priority while one in ten said they didn’t fit in at work, painting a concerning picture of the workplace across various industries including finance and legal as well as healthcare and education.
Half of respondents said that representation at senior level was important due to the fact it would make decision-making more inclusive, similarly one in five do not feel represented by senior team leaders or senior levels, resulting in disappointment, exclusion or anger.
Concerns were also raised around ‘code switching’ which is when ethnic minorities feel they cannot be themselves in their workplace resulting in changed behaviour to fit in.