Racism In The Workplace Research
Sudbury – The Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Centre would like to present our research on racism in the workplace. Our analysis took place in two developments, in June and November of 2021 respectively.
Our project is about collecting data from members of our community about their experience of racism in the workplace.
We conducted our initial project in June using exploratory and primary research methods, as this was all about researching something that already exists.
In November, we dove into the second part of our research and ran one-on-one interviews with respondents. To get maximum reach, we used WhatsApp and Facebook, more specifically targeting anti-racism groups in Sudbury and Sudbury community pages. We also tried to reach out to workers working in small restaurants and other fast foods restaurants like Tim Hortons, Burger King, Wendy’s etc.
The survey had 121 respondents from the Greater Sudbury area during the 2 weeks of conducting and we ran over 20 one-on-one in-person interviews.
According to our analysis, we found that among all people who took part in this survey:
- 38% of people are still facing racism at the workplace (majority of people within the age
group of 18-30).
The reality is that racism is still prevalent in the workplace. At the same time, people seem to be aware of their rights at work; according to our survey:
- 50% of the respondents said they were fully aware of their work rights, 41% said they were somewhat aware, while 9% of them were completely unaware. According to our survey, 65% are satisfied at their workplace even while they are facing racism in one or another form. However, 14% of people are not satisfied at their workplace.
An interview with a business owner who explored his own past working experiences emphasizes, “We often focus on the problem and not the solution, we talk about what has happened as opposed to what had been done to do better and succeed…” He later adds, “If ownership is not involved the rest of the organization will not want to be involved and take action.“
Another worker points out “Any workplaces should create a safe workplace… so everyone feels welcome, there should be easier accessibility for workers who come from a different country to gain experience and have a chance.”
Read through more one-on-one interviews here.
The stories collected will be used to create anti-racism in the workplace campaigns to help name and address the issues that are arising here in Sudbury. With the help of this data, we will be able to target areas of concern and address specific acts or types of racism that are present in our local workplaces.
We know that more research can, and must be done, but with this overall idea, we can make substantial changes to workplaces in Sudbury. Read through the initial research analysis results here.
Contact: Info@Sudburyworkerscentre.ca or call us (705)-470-2173
Thank you to all participants who took part in this project for taking the time to share their stories.
A special thank you to Cambrian College Students who took part in the Analytics Capstone Project
Abhishek Tyagi, Manpreet Kaur, and Jasleen Kaur. None of this would have been made possible without their dedication and care throughout the initial analysis of this project.
