Chasna Harper, 29, is an Australian citizen of Indian heritage who now lives in London with her partner. Despite being highly educated and having an impressive range of work experience and qualifications on her CV, Ms Harper has faced severe difficulty and discrimination in gaining employment and is currently unemployed.   

After years of perseverance Ms Harper eventually managed to gain employment within the Australian media industry. However, it appeared that discrimination was still evident as Ms Harper explained: “I then worked as a journalist, producer and presenter for ABC Radio – radio - not television. This was so no one could see my face. My voice sounds Australian.”

However, now Ms Harper has relocated to Britain she is again seeking work, and explains how difficult the process has been saying: “Since I've been in Britain I've applied for so many jobs and certainly these big government applications seem to get me nowhere, I appreciate competition is fierce but I also feel that it is harder with a foreign name and discrimination is a factor.”

Between November 2008 and May 2009 researchers from the National Centre for Social Research carried out an under-cover investigation in Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, London and Manchester to find out if companies discriminated against applicants with African or Asian names.

The researchers sent 2,961 applications for 987 formally advertised jobs using three different names to show ethnic identity from groups such as African, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani and white British. The job vacancies included nine different private, public and voluntary occupations such as: IT Support, Accountant, Teaching Assistant, Care Assistant and Sales Assistant.

The results found that ethnic identity was a factor in predicting the success of the applications, showing that on average applicants with a ‘white British’ name had to send nine applications before being called for interview whereas applicants with ‘foreign’ names had to send at least sixteen applications – 74 per cent more applications. This equates to applications with a white name receiving a 10.7 per cent positive response compared to 6.2 percent of applications with an ethnic minority name – a net difference of 4.6 per cent points. The report did find the public sector less likely to discriminate than the private sector.

The research commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions concluded: “…there are no plausible explanations for the difference in treatment found between white British and ethnic minority names other than racial discrimination.”

One problem with the timing of the research was that it coincided with Britain’s worst economic recession in 50 years and it is likely that this had a significant effect in terms of the number of applications resulting in positive responses from employers. However, the degree of racial discrimination was notably higher across all ethnic groups, compared to the white British group who had a 68 per cent positive response.  Although some ethnic groups achieved more positive responses than others, ranging from 32 per cent for Indian, Chinese and black Caribbean to 21 per cent for Pakistani or Bangladeshi, overall the level was much lower than the white named group.

The research discovered that larger organisations have better policies to guard against discrimination. This echoes the experience of one BBC employee who has Egyptian parents but was born and raised in Britain. Omar Kenewai, 24, said: “I don't think my name has ever made me be rejected for a job or not even considered. But then again my name isn't Muhammad Abdullahi or something obviously Muslim.”

Mr Kenewai continued: “I actually think, because I've been working for a very PC-conscious organisation like the BBC, who goes on about diversity that they might look favorably on my background instead of another Joe Bloggs.”

The British research followed a trend conveyed in studies conducted in other countries. A 2009 study in Australia, in which researchers sent over 5,000 applications to job advertisements, found that discrimination against non-white named Australian applicants was evident.

The findings are reflected in Ms Harper’s experience: “In Australia I definitely experienced job discrimination, when I finished school, I couldn't get a job in retail or hospitality because they didn't like the look of me, as I didn't fit the Aussie look, so I went with expectations and got a job in a call centre, but the point is no one could see me, see that I'm Indian Australian than just straight up Australian.”

However, describing the current state of employment in Britain the Ethnic Minority Advisory Group’s Chairman, Gordon Pell said: “76% of white people in the working age group have a job; only 60% of working age people from ethnic minorities are in employment. This gap has remained largely unchanged for a generation. It is unjust, socially divisive, and bad for the economy.”

While many African and Asian students study at British universities, it appears that after  they graduate they face a greater challenge in job seeking than their white peers.

Kingston University in South West London has students from a diverse range of racial backgrounds and this diversity is something the university is committed to maintain. Although students of ethnic minority may not face discrimination during their studies, many expressed concerns about potential discrimination in the future.

First year biomedical science student, Fatmanur Saglam, 18, said: “I have never had a job but I am worried about when I leave university as my older brother had loads of trouble finding a job using his real name. In the end he made his name sound more English and he got more attention.”

Akbar Ali, 22 is an achitecture student he said: “Yeah some people definitely discriminate as they feel scared to risk hiring you. But I worked at Sainsbury’s last summer so I don’t think they discriminate as a company.”

In order to reduce the employment gap the then employment minister, Jim Knight considered preventing government contracts being awarded to companies that discriminate against ethnic minorities. With Ed Davey recently named as the new employment minister it is as yet unclear what action the new government will take.

However, as Abigail Morris, employment advisor to the British Chamber of Commerce said: “Employees do need the law to make sure that they are protected from unjust discrimination. But they also need a law that they and their employers can understand – one that complements, rather than erodes, the relationship between them.”

With one in ten people in the UK now belonging to an ethnic group and with the figure set to rise, equality campaigners are putting pressure on the Government to review employment guidelines.

The negative effect discrimination can cause an indivdual can be substantial, as nursing student Zayinabu Nabagala, 21 says: “Discrimination does so much damage to your self-esteem as it makes you feel really bad, like you’re worthless.”