BAME legal professionals & their pilot for equality and diversity in leadership?

BAME senior/leadership roles became an arena of interest when the I was invited by a government department to be a speaker at a Black History event in the month of October which is the annual observance of Black History in the UK.

The Black History event then moved to the questions and answers section which became a heated session revolving around racism in the workplace and the taboo of why are there no BAME members in senior/leadership roles. The CEO, (White British Male) in attendance asked me ‘why do you think that is’ but I felt that it was not appropriate to answer the question as my perspective was based upon my own experience, which may not be tantamount to a collective, and perhaps it may be presumptuous and biased.

Let us reflect upon the question which was brought to me at the Black History event, “why are there none of only a few BAME members in senior/leadership roles in non-BAME legal corporate spaces”.

Questions

1. As I contemplate the progression of BAME members and the Equality Act, it appears that change has not happened, yes more BAME people are having access to education and are able to secure employment but at what cost?

Reflections

1. BAME members sought to obtain employment abroad not merely for remuneration or position to reflect their academia, skillset, talent and experience as many did not want to leave England as they had families and not only was this challenging on them but also on their children and partners, but they had to make that sacrifice in the quest for their basic human rights.

2. Which collectively ‘ highlights the very tangible ways in which black talent is being devalued or squandered’ (Roberts et al, 2019).

Diverse Relations’ Questions and Reflections

Food for Thought