A university-led survey has found that around one-third of people in Scotland’s Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities have faced discrimination in the last two years.

The research, carried out by the University of Glasgow in conjunction with polling company Survation, discovered that 35% of respondents had experienced discrimination.

This figure highlights a ‘consistent’ level of racial discrimination over the last decade.

The study showed that the main areas where discrimination was encountered included employment where 40% faced discrimination when seeking jobs and 38% when trying to advance in their careers.

Policing and criminal justice were also a concern for 34% of respondents, while 30% experienced discrimination in healthcare, 27% in transport, and 25% in both housing and education.

Race and ethnicity were cited as the primary cause of discrimination by 85% of respondents, while nearly 46% reported discrimination based on religious identity.

Co-Investigator Professor Nasar Meer (pictured above) said: “This survey builds on previous years’ findings and highlights, on the one hand, that Scotland’s Black, Asian, and visible minority ethnic communities have firmly established themselves in Scottish society and strongly identify with it.

On the other hand, they continue to experience racism across all areas of life, from the street to the workplace, in ways that can be both overt and subtle.

This pattern has remained largely unchanged in a decade. It is unsurprising therefore that trust and confidence has declined in the institutions and systems able to address this.”

Discrimination experiences varied among different groups, with 44% of respondents with self-reported Black African Caribbean heritage acknowledging they had experienced discrimination in Scotland.

Perceptions of racial discrimination as a broader problem remain high in Scotland, with 40% of respondents viewing it as widespread and 29% believing it had worsened.

Despite these experiences, nearly half of those who had faced discrimination chose not to pursue any course of action.

This, however, is an improvement from 2015, when 60% of respondents said they had not reported their experiences. Just over half of those surveyed expressed trust in the police, the country’s anti-discrimination laws, and the ability of authorities to address discrimination.

The survey also revealed strong national identities among respondents, with 37% identifying as more Scottish than British, 24% seeing themselves as equally Scottish and British, and 15% leaning more towards a British identity.