"Zero tolerance" of racism in social work has been pledged by the Scottish Government and sector leaders, as they published an action plan to tackle the issue.
The anti-racism action plan aims to improve reporting of racist incidents, increase minority ethnic representation in leadership roles and promote culturally competent practice.
The plan was developed by an anti-racism oversight group, set up in 2023 by the Scottish Government, Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW), Social Work Scotland and other sector bodies on the back of a 2021 SASW report that identified significant levels of racism in the profession.
It follows a statement of intent by the group, issued in November 2024, which committed to tackling racism across social work practice and education and diversifying the profession's leadership in Scotland.
Perception gap racism in social work
The plan's publication coincides with the results of a survey, commissioned by the oversight group, that identified a significant gap between the respective views of minority ethnic and white social workers about the scale and impact of racism within the profession.The survey, by the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (Iriss), was carried out from November to December 2024, and received reportable responses from 203 social workers, students, academics or leaders, 18% of whom (36 or 37) identified as being from a minority ethnic group.
Iriss found that:
- 94% of minority ethnic respondents saw racism as a problem in social work, as against 61% of white/ethnic majority respondents;
- 71% of minority ethnic respondents said racism was a problem in their organisation, compared with 36% of white respondents;
- 20% of minority ethnic respondents said their organisation was committed to promoting anti-racism, as against 82% of white respondents;
- 47% of minority ethnic respondents felt confident that reporting racism would lead to appropriate action, compared with 76% of white respondents;
- 56% of minority ethnic respondents felt prepared and confident about intervening if they witnessed racism, as against 84% of white respondents.
Improving management of racist incidents
The action plan includes four commitments, to be delivered by 2027.The first is to improve the management of racist incidents experienced by minority ethnic social workers, which, said the plan, were leading to "poor mental health, increased absenteeism, lower morale, and reduced productivity".
This will involve developing a framework for reporting, recording and addressing racist incidents, with oversight group members, who include universities and employers, implementing strategies for addressing racist incidents that focus on both immediate responses and long-term change.
'Zero-tolerance' approach
The second commitment is to foster anti-racist workplace cultures, based on a "zero-tolerance approach to racism".Actions will include promoting unconscious bias training and embedding anti-racist training at all levels of social work, from pre-qualifying education to advanced practice.
Racial equity in social work leadership
The plan also commits to advancing racial equity in social work leadership and workforce development, including by:
- working with council chief social work officers and third sector leaders to increase ethnic minority representation in leadership roles, using baseline data to assess progress;
- reviewing and revising recruitment, retention and promotion processes to ensure they support anti-racist workforce development;
- diversifying the intake of social work education courses.
Promoting cultural competence
The fourth pledge is to promote cultural competence by social workers, which the plan said involved "awareness of one’s own biases, knowledge of different cultural practices, and the skills to apply this understanding effectively".This will involve embedding cultural competence into the design and delivery of services, ensuring it is part of university curricula, assessing the adequacy of cultural competence skills and learning resources within social work teams and developing a new learning resource on the topic.
Racism 'has no place in social work'
In a joint statement, the Scottish Government's chief social work adviser, Iona Colvin, and SASW national director Alison Bavidge said they would set up an implementation group to lead the delivery of the plan.Its work will include developing toolkits to support the embedding of anti-racist practice and tracking progress on the action plan's measures through a bi-annual survey.
The implementation group will also deliver quarterly progress reports to the Scottish Government's new National Social Work Agency, based on feedback from group members and other sector bodies.
"Racism has no place in Scottish society, and it has no place in social work," said Colvin and Bavidge. "Together, we can and must build a profession, and a country, where everyone is treated with fairness, dignity, and respect."
