The report looks at how positive action policies were carried out in Europe and North America, and it identifies organisations involved in their development and implementation. It considers the extent to which the policies have been deemed successful in improving ethnic minority employment rates and social mobility, and it reflects on the lessons to be learnt in the United Kingdom from these experiences.

The research was undertaken to enable policy makers to consider a range of strategy and policy options that would facilitate increases in ethnic minority employment rates and identify good practice in terms of the implementation of these policies.

The research comprised a desktop literature review of positive action policies in the European Union and in North America, fieldwork observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews. Internationally known academics were employed as consultants.

Parts of the EU were included in the research, particularly the Netherlands and Northern Ireland.

There can be clear benefits from a programme of positive action. Existing policy approaches have been limited in redressing persisting ethnic penalties. However, the view is expressed that a government committed to eradicating social exclusion can legitimately and confidently engage with an advanced programme of positive action that includes contract compliance. Such a step would send the right signal both to the intended beneficiaries and to the organisations and individuals that continue to deny ethnic groups and visible minorities their full part in the economic and social life of the country.

Department for Work and Pensions
Phone: +44 20 7712 2171
enquiries@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

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01/12/2006

Ravinder Singh Dhami, Judith Squires, Tariq Modood (Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, University of Bristol

research

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Integration of social groups

Ethnic minorities