When we carried out our Community Voices survey, many people told us they wanted help understanding the bigger picture around racism at work.
For many people, experiences of racism in the workplace can feel personal and isolating. When something happens to you – a comment, a blocked promotion, being treated differently – it’s easy to question yourself. You may wonder whether you misread the situation, whether you should have handled it differently, or whether the problem lies with you.
But when we step back and look at the wider research, a different picture emerges.
Across the UK, studies consistently show patterns of racial inequality in pay, progression, hiring practices, workplace culture, and access to opportunity. These patterns point to structural issues rather than isolated individual experiences.
Part of the purpose of our work at Spark is to help connect lived experience with evidence. Research alone cannot capture the full reality of people’s lives, but it can help show that what many people experience is not random or individual. It sits within wider systems.
As we developed our work on racism in the workplace, several reports helped shape our understanding of these broader dynamics. We’re sharing some of them here for anyone who wants to explore the bigger picture.
These pieces of research helped inform our thinking and may also be useful for individuals, organisations, and leaders who want to understand how racism operates structurally across society and the workplace.
Research that helps explain the wider picture
Runnymede Trust– The Colour of Money
Explores how racial inequalities shape wealth, financial security and economic opportunity in the UK, highlighting the structural factors that drive persistent racial wealth gaps.
Runnymede Trust – Broken Ladders
Examines barriers to career progression for racially minoritised workers in the UK, showing how structural discrimination limits advancement even when individuals have equal qualifications or experience.
Runnymede Trust– A Hostile Environment: Language, Race, Surveillance and the Media
Explores how political rhetoric, media narratives and surveillance policies shape public attitudes towards race and migration, influencing how racialised communities are treated across society and institutions.
Runnymede Trust – Keeping Us Safe? Rethinking Policing, Harm and Justice
Investigates racial inequalities within policing and justice systems, raising questions about how safety, harm and accountability are experienced differently by racialised communities.
Runnymede Trust – History on Loop
Explores how narratives about race and immigration repeat across time in the UK, showing how historical patterns continue to shape contemporary politics and social attitudes.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation – Ethnicity, Poverty and In-Work Inequalities in the UK
Examines how ethnicity intersects with poverty and employment inequality, showing that racialised workers are more likely to experience low pay, insecure work and limited progression.
Action for Race Equality – Are We Listening? Voices from the Workplace
Draws on the experiences of racially minoritised employees to highlight discrimination, barriers to progression and the emotional impact of racism at work.
McKinsey & Company – Race in the UK Workplace: The Intersectional Experience
Looks at how race intersects with gender and other identities to shape workplace experiences, including differences in belonging, advancement and leadership opportunities.
The Conversation – Research on racial abuse in English football
Explores the psychological and emotional impact of racial abuse experienced by professional footballers, highlighting the trauma associated with repeated public racism.
European Network Against Racism – Equal@Work Report
Provides a Europe-wide analysis of racial discrimination in employment, examining hiring practices, workplace culture and institutional responses to racism.
Why this research matters
Reading research like this does not replace listening to people’s lived experiences. But it can help us understand that what many people experience in workplaces is not isolated or individual. The data shows us that it reflects broader systems and embedded inequities.
For individuals navigating racism at work, this knowledge can be grounding. It reminds us that the problem is not personal failure, but structural inequality.
For organisations, it is a reminder that addressing racism requires more than individual interventions. It requires examining how power, policies, and culture operate across the whole system.
These reports helped inform our work at Spark, and we hope they are useful for anyone wanting to understand the wider landscape.