Hansard

I am pleased to be able to shine a light on the work that I have been privileged to participate in, on behalf of our Parliament, with young women lead, which is a leadership programme for women aged 30 and under who live in Scotland, delivered in partnership with YWCA Scotland, the young women’s movement.

This is the third of the subject programmes that I have been involved in. By way of quick explanation, part of the leadership programme is that the participants form a committee, chaired by me, which carries out an inquiry, on a subject of their choosing, in the format of a formal parliamentary committee. The chosen topic of inquiry this year, which is investigating education and employment and the important transition between them for young women from ethnic minorities, is one that is of real personal importance to this year’s participants. For the first time, young women from ethnic minority backgrounds have made up the whole committee membership.

It is a sobering fact that there has never been a woman from an ethnic minority elected to the Scottish Parliament. I know that members of the Parliament firmly believe that that must change.

It is appropriate at this point to note that, in its report, the young women lead committee acknowledges the problematic nature of the use of the term “BAME”. The term features extensively in the committee’s report—in order to represent its demographic and the focus of its inquiry—for lack of a better available word, the committee members feel, in the current landscape.

Over the course of the inquiry, participants heard about the challenges and barriers that are faced by young women from ethnic minorities in education, job hunting and employment. Of course, we have all heard about that for some time, and we all know that there is an issue. Our young women also heard and determined that a focus is needed on finding solutions, on truly sharing best practice and on creating real change. There has to be improvement.

The recommendations that are contained in the report are a step towards that change. As I say in the introduction to the “Young Women Lead 2019/2020 Report”,

“This report is the voice of the young women on this year’s committee, and now is the time for that voice to be heard.”

The report details the background and the current policy, it discusses education and employment and, as I have said, it explores that important transition between them. The report notes that there are many policy initiatives in the public sphere and there are ambitious aims and good intentions, but the barriers still exist. Outwith the work of young women lead, the issue has exercised many of us for some time. Too often, we tick the boxes, but we do not open them up for qualitative assessment. If the minister will excuse my saying this, Governments, both national and local, are often guilty of that.

The report makes specific recommendations, including, in the education sphere, ensuring that local authorities recruit BAME identifying individuals as career advisers, and investing in useful training and development for all career advisers; creating a career development programme linking BAME women to resources so that they can build a career pathway; acknowledging the importance of role models and creating mentorship schemes for young BAME women; and further considering the presentation of opportunities at local authority career events and school fairs.

When it comes to employment, there are a load of recommendations, understandably. I will focus today on those that we believe can be considered by the Scottish Government, for action by it or for discussion with partners in the public and private sectors. One is ensuring that employers collect and use workforce data to benchmark current levels of BAME women within their workplace, so as to identify underrepresented populations. There is a lack of Scotland-specific data.

Other recommendations include supporting proactive recruitment strategies such as scholarship programmes, internships, apprenticeships and work experience for underrepresented populations; supporting the creation of BAME networks in sectors of industry; considering the creation of a stakeholder group of appropriate people to develop a portal of best practice for employers; and highlighting and celebrating employers that offer the best policies for supporting and developing young BAME women.

Recommendations that are aimed directly at the Scottish Government include that it should evaluate the effectiveness of the existing toolkit surrounding recruitment practices, considering its expansion beyond the recruitment process, and that it should fund third sector organisations that already provide recruitment services to allow them to specialise in that area.

A major recommendation that covers both elements of the study is to acknowledge the additional barrier of poverty, which can disproportionately affect BAME communities’ experiences. That could be done through Scottish Government funding of BAME-led organisations that deliver employability support. I add a personal comment on that point. What is needed is sustainable funding for organisations that have shown that they are effective, which will allow them to get on with the job rather than constantly having to seek and justify further financial support.

I look forward to hearing the minister’s response. He and his colleagues, particularly Christina McKelvie, the Minister for Older People and Equalities, will be aware that the general findings of the young women lead committee complement those of other studies. Close the Gap is a much-respected policy advocacy organisation that works in women’s labour market participation. It has welcomed the young women lead committee’s report and has noted that

“In Scotland, Black and minority ethnic ... women face an intertwined set of gendered and racial barriers that affect their ability to enter, progress and stay in good quality employment.”

However, the minister and his colleagues—including you, Presiding Officer—may not know about the further interest that the report, and the work of our Parliament and of the young women’s movement, has invoked. Already, participants in the young women lead committee—together with Elena Soper from the young women’s movement, Hayley Forrester from the Parliament’s clerking team, and me—have met representatives of the Parliaments of Bavaria, Catalonia, Wales and Flanders to discuss the programme and the committee’s report. We have been invited to a similar discussion next week with the chair of the circle of women members of the National Assembly of Quebec. I hasten to add that all that activity is happening online.

I do not have time to thank everyone who has taken part in the project—for example, those who met participants, gave their time and provided evidence. Particular mention must go, though, to the dedicated staff of the young women’s movement—and to our own parliamentary staff, who helped to develop the young women lead project and have enthusiastically embraced it over the past three years.

Of course, I must also thank the young women who have taken part. I do not have the words, let alone the time, to express the admiration that I have for them and the work that they have carried out through the hardest of times. The dedication that they have shown and their determination to make a difference to the lives of other young women living in Scotland have been truly inspirational.

We believe that it is time for change, and that change is possible. I commend this valuable report to Parliament. I also recommend it to the Scottish Government as providing extremely useful information that should be considered very seriously.