BAME mentorship and the benefits

As of February 2020, there were just six ethnic minority directors in the position of chair or CEO in the FTSE 100, and nine in the FTSE 250. Plus, over one third of FTSE 100 companies did not have any BAME board members.

When it comes to discussing BAME diversity in the workplace, it can usually be broken down into two areas: recruitment and retention. The former places emphasis on career days, work experience, involvement in schools and colleges etc. The aim here is to increase the number of BAME people working within a particular sector. However, retention can be slightly more of a grey area. Once people of BAME backgrounds are in a particular field, how do you make them stay, feel included, as well as eventually progress into leadership positions?

A 2017 CIPD study found the following:

• Employees from Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi and mixed-race backgrounds are more likely than white British employees to say having a mentor would help kick-start their career.

• All BAME employees, regardless of ethnicity, are significantly more likely than white British employees to say that seeing other people like them who have progressed in the organisation would help boost their careers.

• Almost half of BAME employees say they feel they need to censor how much they tell their colleagues about themselves and their personal life. This was significantly higher than the 37% of white British employees who feel this way.

• Of those who said they take part in mentoring, significantly more BAME than white British employees say they have found it to be effective in helping them achieve their potential at work.

Image: Josh Rose

Typically, mentorships, whether formal or informal, makes use of an individuals’ existing skills, knowledge and experience and transfers them to less experienced people. This can include advice on how to network, how to ask for a pay rise and feedback on CVs. For people in the BAME community, it can be difficult to find a mentor who is like them, especially when you consider how sparse BAME people are in top positions. This is not to say that having a BAME mentor for a BAME person is essential, but data shows that a lack of diverse role models is a barrier to increasing ethnic diversity in the pipeline.

There is something relatable about having a mentor who has experienced the same barriers as you and receiving practical advice on how to overcome them. Often what can happen when having a mentor who is not BAME, is that the mentee can sometimes spend a lot of time explaining the barriers of being non-white, and the day to day microaggressions that they experience (reverse mentoring). However, when both people are of a similar background, it means that the meetings can be more succinct and provide a safer space where there is mutual understanding and empathy on both sides.

Several universities in the UK have BAME mentorship schemes in place, as well as institutions like EY, Association for Black and Minority Engineers and Lloyds Banking Group. What’s challenging about mentorship is quantifying the results. Mentorship is about feeling comfortable with someone, and making sure you’re not left behind, so sometimes tangible outcomes can be difficult to ascertain. However, based on the CIPD research shown above, and the fact that so many academic and professional institutions are putting the processes in place for BAME mentorship proves there is something worthwhile in it.

Some practical things you could be doing

If you are a professional from a BAME background, even if you don’t consider yourself senior or experienced, it’s worth connecting with a graduate or a student who is starting out on the journey that you are already on. This could be as simple as reaching out on LinkedIn. Even if your ethnicity hasn’t hindered you in any way in your career, you may be surprised at how much your presence can be comforting to those starting out their careers.

And if you’re not from the BAME community but would like to be an ambassador, suggest mentorship schemes to HR or your team leader. Use your network to connect mentors and mentees together or offer your expertise to those who you notice are feeling excluded. Most importantly, listen to your colleagues, whether they are a director or an intern.

Words by Ayisha Paw