Positive action in minority ethnic employment: The role of Scottish housing organizations

Abstract

This paper focuses on Scottish housing organizations, where the relative absence of black and minority ethnic employees is beginning to be addressed by programmes of positive action. The paper defines positive action, discusses experiences elsewhere in Europe and the USA, and identifies issues that have arisen from such programmes. Schemes targeted at the housing profession, such as PATH in both England and Scotland, are described in some detail. The attitudes and experiences of Scottish housing organizations were examined as part of an evaluation of the Scottish PATH programme carried out in 1998, and these are discussed. The paper concludes that a reservoir of goodwill exists towards positive action programmes and that there is a need for such programmes to be extended, possibly with the support of the Scottish Parliament.