Our result report, Racism at workcaptures these lived experiences, the barriers that facilitate racism in Australian jobs, and an evidence-based organizational framework for anti-racism action.
The experiences of racism, as our researchers tell us, are uncomfortable and confrontational to read, especially for some people who do not experience racism but an alarming and pervasive reality for the people who confront them at work.
Research respondents reported that they were selected by their colleagues because of their race and subjected to derogatory names, harmful stereotypes and constant traces. In many cases, management fired individuals when they reported racism, often played off or fired immediately.
Of course, racism in the workplace is not only the result of the behavior or attitudes of some people, but is rooted in organizations, workplace policies, and workplace cultures. This kind of systemic racism can be hard for organizations to hear.
“But it becomes apparent when we recognize how some businesses fill disproportionately fixed-term contracts with people of color, abandon racistly marginalized people with more difficult jobs, and show cultural bias by preferring what one interviewee told us.”white men with easy to spell last name for management positions“.
Racism has a high personal cost to the individual employees who experience it. For jobs, racism also affects innovation, profit, market share, and can lead to absenteeism, turnover and loss of staff morale and productivity.
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No organization is immune to the scourge of racism and it requires more than individuals and businesses passively claiming that they are not racist.
People who have experienced racism have told us that if we as a nation are to really tackle racism, we must start using language that focuses on racial and racial injustice rather than on culture and cultural diversity, because they are not the same. That is, we actually need to talk about racism at work.
We have also found that approaches to racism in Australian workplaces only succeed if they recognize and recognize racism as systemic and center the voices of people who have experienced racism.
Proactively engaging in change is not just the role of business people, but workers at all levels of an organization to provide a racist safe workplace and tackle racism when it arises.
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Expecting racist marginalized people to bear the weight of job change alone would ignore the cultural burdens they already bear and essentially ask them to resolve an issue that is not theirs.
Addressing racism at work requires proactive anti-racism measures that raise and challenge racist workplace policies, practices and procedures, in addition to actions that address the racist behavior and attitudes of employees.
On this International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, we call on businesses across Australia to recognize the realities of racism at work and to take evidence-based action to address it.
Diversity Council Australia Chief Executive Officer Lisa Annese, Board Member Ming Long AM, and Member Education Director Racism at work Co-Author Dr. Virginia Mapedzahama.
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