Women of colour hampered

While women of colour are severely underrepresented in management and senior leadership positions, the structural oppressions and systemic disadvantages leading to their underrepresentation begins well before they even enter the workplace.

These findings, released by the Fawcett Society women’s campaigning charity, are based on the collation of substantial amounts of research into the life outcomes of women of colour in a bid to provide evidence of the myriad barriers they encounter in the workplace.

The resulting report, Pay and progression of women of colour literature review, highlights that, while changing, the structural inequalities these women face start at school and university, follow them into employment, trying to progress at work and, finally, at senior leadership stages. 

The report is the first part of the wider Pay and Progression Project, in partnership with the Runnymede Trust race equality think tank.

Key findings show that compared with White British men, women of colour consistently earn less per hour, with pay gaps ranging from 10% for Indian women to 28% for Pakistani women.

And just under one-third of women of colour say they have been unfairly denied training or development opportunities which would enable promotion. This rose to more than half of those who are disabled (52%).

While women make up 6% of FTSE 100 company CEOs, and 35% of civil service permanent sectaries, not a single one of these positions are held by women of colour.

https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=c1300375-f221-4a88-8c66-edf3c30bd2c7