Every day public sector workers across Scotland go the extra mile to ensure that we all have access to the essential services we take for granted. Life without many of our key workers would be unthinkable, and we have come to appreciate them even more during the pandemic. However, there has been recent concern that key workers do not reflect the public they serve.
Senior teachers and police offices have raised concerns that BAME workers are struggling to reach senior positions. And it is feared that these discrepancies affect the interactions between institutions and members of the public from minority ethnic backgrounds.
A recent freedom of information request found that less than one per cent of senior police officers (those holding the rank of Sergeant or above) came from BAME backgrounds. This trend was repeated in all areas, with only one per cent of constables coming from BAME backgrounds. Meanwhile, over four per cent of Scotland’s population are minority ethnic according to the last census. Opposition politicians in Holyrood have urged police Scotland to ‘look closely’ at the numbers and consider why police officers ‘are not nearly as diverse as the public they serve’.
In addition to policing, diversity among the teaching workforce is under scrutiny. Glasgow’s only BAME depute headteacher, Labinder Sekhon, claims that minority staff have to work harder than their white peers for promotion. She praised education bosses for their recent work to increase the number of minority ethnic teachers but warned that they needed to do more. Only three per cent of Glasgow city council staff are from BAME backgrounds, yet 25% of school-age children in the city are minorities. In response to these figures, Sekhon has partnered with several organisations to help mobilise recruitment. Glasgow City Council has supported community engagement sessions held at local Gurdwaras. Around 100 people from Sikh, Hindu, Chinese, and Muslim and Polish backgrounds took part. Sekhon hopes that future projects will continue saying: ‘this is really important work and I do worry it’s going to be forgotten about’.
Overall, minority representation among our teachers and police officers is critical, given they interact with the public daily. In both of the cases mentioned above, perceptions within the BAME community play a role in discouraging people from pursuing careers in these areas. Labinder Sekhon suggested there was a bias towards professional positions such as a doctor, lawyer or dentist. Part of her work is challenging these internal perceptions, which is precisely why community engagement is so vital.