Cultural expectations force one in 10 ethnic minority workers to hide their career choices

Cultural expectations often make people lie about or hide their career choices from their families with ethnic minorities feeling the pressure more than their white counterparts, a new study found.

Some 40 per cent of ethnic minorities do not disclose their career decisions to their loved ones compared to about 20 per cent of white people.

The poll, commissioned by the technology sector equality platform Samsung Pioneers and carried out through OnePoll, involved 1,568 employed adults including those from Asian, black, Arab and white communities.

It found that 67 per cent of non-white workers felt pressure from their families to pursue specific job roles.

More than half (56 per cent) of the non-white respondents said they experienced unfair treatment at the workplace because of their cultural background. Close to one-third (32 per cent) said they adopted a new accent to avoid looking different while more than a quarter (28 per cent) changed their eating habits for similar reasons.

However, just 15 per cent of white workers felt they were “forced” to change aspects of cultural identity to become valued in the workplace, the findings reported by Express revealed.

When looking at the most acceptable career paths, becoming a doctor, lawyer or accountant were professional routes deemed most prestigious, said the research.

Marvyn Harrison, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant, said there was “a generational issue” of ethnic communities workers “being pressured into high-paying and traditional job roles as a way of navigating systemic inequality.”

He said black families no longer believed their children would have equality without creating a perceived value in their careers.

“This prevents a diversification of the types of roles people commit to at the highest level, and an important sense of belonging once they get there,” Harrison said.

“The impact of this mental load means black employees are not showing up as their full self and experiencing imposter syndrome – which prevents them from excelling and progressing at the rate their talent deserves,” he said.

“We need a generational shift of all races and ethnicities pursuing roles which suit their passions and consider their neurodiversity, mental health, class, gender, religion, and sexuality, as well as being fully accepted for who they are,” the consultant said.