#NameTheBias spotlights workplace inequities through poetry
By Ella Horncastle on Wednesday, January 8, 2025
People Like Us has partnered with spoken word artist Yasmin Ali to spotlight the systemic challenges ethnic minority professionals face in the UK.
The collaboration, launched for Ethnicity Pay Gap Day, features a two-minute short film showcasing Yasmin’s original spoken word performance on the impact of “name bias”—how an ethnic minority name can hinder job opportunities and career advancement.
The #NameTheBias campaign responds to research, including a revealing Oxford University study, highlighting stark disparities in the UK workplace.
Ethnic minority workers are nearly twice as likely to have pay rises or promotions rescinded due to current economic pressures, and report longer hours with higher out-of-hours expectations compared to their white peers. Over 70% fear career repercussions for discussing pay, underscoring the need for greater transparency and equity.
The campaign calls on employers to confront these biases and advocates for the introduction of mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting.
By combining art with advocacy, #NameTheBias is pushing for systemic change, proving that while numbers reveal the problem, words can ignite action.