Half of minority ethnic social workers in Scottish survey say they could quit over racism

A new survey has highlighted the scale of workplace racism within the profession in Scotland.

Six out of ten respondents report that racism is causing worsening mental health and anxiety, and those experiencing racism feel unsupported in the workplace.

Around half said they are thinking of leaving social work because of racism experienced at work.

There were reports of verbal and physical abuse, and microaggressions including refusing to use real names, doubting capabilities, and minimising experiences.

Only 61 per cent of white social workers in Scotland believe racism is a problem in their profession, compared to 94 per cent of minority ethnic colleagues.

Around 82 per cent of the 200 social work practitioners identified as white in the survey compared to 18 per cent who were minority ethnic.

The Anti-Racism for Social Work survey was carried out by the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (Iriss) with the Scottish government and heard from all career stages and areas.

The government has pledged to eradicate racism from social work, launching the survey to inform the work of the anti-racism oversight group to help develop a national action plan on racism.

Presenting early findings at an NHS Education for Scotland conference, Iriss Development lead Kerry Musslebrook said racism has a "significant impact" on the mental health of minority ethnic social workers.

She pointed to a "significant gap" in the understanding of racism between white and minority ethnic social workers. 

Researchers are calling for better anti-racism training.

Katie Feyerabend, research and analysis lead at Iriss, said: “There’s not been a lot of Scotland-specific data, and we’re hoping this helps show that racism is a Scottish problem, and we do need to address it.

“We would like to see all of us take up more responsibility to eliminate racism in all forms in our profession and in wider society.

“This includes ensuring that anti-racism is embedded in all our work and embedded in our institutions.

“We hope the new National Social Work Agency will also provide extra thrust and help maintain this as a priority and drive forward change in the coming months and years.”

The Anti-Racism Oversight Group has published a National Anti-racism Statement of Intent in collaboration with SASW and Iriss, committing social work bodies to change the culture within the profession.

Alison Bavidge, National Director at SASW said a previous 2021 report “exposed the scale and impact” of racism in Scottish social work and the need for change.

Commenting on early findings from the latest survey, she said: "The preliminary results of the Iriss survey not only bear that out but bring a depth of evidence of the harms experienced by social workers from their colleagues, the people they work with, and their organisations. 

“Scottish government and COSLA issued a joint statement of intent last year that commits them to dismantling institutional and systemic racism within social work. Their actions will be scrutinised by the National Anti-racism Oversight Group and the social work profession in general."

Bavidge said one of the first steps for delivering change will be the national e-learning Resource on Anti-racism in Social Work, commissioned by SSSC and devised by SASW. 

She added: “This resource, for social workers, will help embed anti-racism and intersectional approaches in organisational processes and culture, as well as in personal behaviours and actions.

"SASW remains committed to the creation of a safe and inclusive society with a social work profession we are proud of.”