Research Approach

• This report draws upon in-depth interviews with 101 respondents from the four largest minority ethnic groups in the region: Chinese, Travellers, South Asians and Black Africans.
  

Main Findings

• Data suggest that the catering industry is not the preferred career option of Chinese people. A number of those interviewed felt that they had no choice because of lack of educational qualifications, proficiency in English and/or a belief that they would not be accepted in other occupations by the majority white settled population.
• The high levels of unemployment among Travellers appears to be caused by a number of factors, particularly the decline in the 'Traveller Economy' since the 1950s. For those attempting to find work within the mainstream labour market, their efforts are severely hampered by high rates of illiteracy and general lack of education, and the strong perception among many Travellers that they are mistrusted by the general population. The combination of these two factors results in a general lack of confidence among Travellers.
• South-Asian people living in Northern Ireland are either self-employed (in catering or retail) or working in professional occupations, especially medicine. High levels of self-employment appear consolidated by two factors: a general mistrust and fear that they would be discriminated against by members of the white population if they were to enter other forms of employment and to a lesser extent, the fact that qualifications gained in their previous country may not always be recognised in Northern Ireland.
• Little data is available on Black African people living in Northern Ireland. From the interviews conducted, it was found that some had come to Northern Ireland to study, train and/or gain work experience. The main problems within this category are a sense of isolation and the general anxieties and insecurities associated with contract work.

Racial Harassment in the Workplace

• Racial harassment in the workplace appeared to be a common experience for a significant proportion of respondents interviewed. Chinese people working in catering establishments appeared to be subject to routine forms of verbal abuse, and, on occasion, of physical abuse.
• For those minority ethnic people working in other environments, forms of harassment ranged from being ignored and/or having colleagues make ignorant or insensitive comments about their culture or identity to overt and intentional forms of discrimination and harassment.
  

Racist Bullying and Harassment in Schools

• Bullying and harassment in schools also appeared to be a common experience for many of children interviewed. A small number of interviewees recounted incidents of physical abuse, however the most frequent type of harassment took the form of racist name-calling.
• Bullying and harassment usually took place in informal areas of the school and perpetrators tended to be older than the victim, male and to engage in racist harassment usually when part of a bigger group. A number of children reported however that their white friends would come to their defence when they were subject to racist abuse.
• The response of schools to the issue appears to vary enormously. Some schools appear to have dealt with specific incidents relatively successfully, however the majority of schools tended to respond inappropriately. This was often characterised by not taking the issue seriously either by minimising it or ignoring it altogether.

Travellers and Education

• High levels of illiteracy and lack of formal qualifications gained by Travellers do not reflect a general lack of concern for education among this group. The majority of those interviewed expressed regret at either not having the opportunities to learn and/or not making the most of opportunities offered. Many of the young adults interviewed had joined various literacy and other educational programmes.
• The majority of Traveller children do not continue to attend school after primary education, reasons for which include disillusionment arising from what Travellers perceived to be low expectations that teachers had about them and thus the poor level of education they received; fear of secondary schools and particularly the possibility that teachers and fellow pupils may pick on them.
• Traveller culture itself tends too, to influence the high rates of non-attendance, in so far as the lack of value that some give to education, beyond learning the basics or reading and writing. Both Traveller adults and children interviewed however, expressed a strong desire to learn more and many talked about their need to gain qualifications.

The 'Language Barrier' in Relation to Education

• For those minority of ethnic children and parents whose first language is not English, they tended to experience significant problems in relation to education. This was commonly manifest among children falling behind in certain language-based subjects such as English and History.
• For the parents, some experienced considerable frustration at not being able to help their children with school work and also at problems associated with attempting to communicate with their children's teachers.

Intercultural Education

• A majority of those interviewed argued that more should be done in schools to teach about different minority ethnic communities and to encourage children to respect and celebrate cultural diversity. Moreover, many argued that there was also a need for schools to more adequately meet the specific religious and dietary needs of minority ethnic children.