Why continuing education and professional development trainings for Black and Minority Ethnic groups (BAME) is not translating into career progression, economic growths and bridging the employment gap in the national workforce in UK
Authors: Oluwatobi Arikawe  , Michael Olumide Edwards-Fapohunda  , Paul Waite  
Published: August 2024

The research objective of this study is to understand why continuing education and professional development (Lifelong Learning) the UK has not delivered the expected career advancement, economic returns and closing on the employment gap for Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) population. Nevertheless, much funding has been put into such educational programs to improve the condition of the BAME community for career mobility and economic prospects, they remain prejudiced nevertheless. The purpose of this research will be to establish the causes of these disparities with particular emphasis on the system influences as well as the efficiency of the established CPD programmers. The research method of this study is of mixed nature, while qualitative study is followed by the quantitative one. The data was generated through Q
 energy questionnaire survey and interviews conducted with BAME professional participants of CPD programs. Second, secondary data were collected from the governmental and organizational reports on diversity in the workforce and career advancement. in qualitative data were coded and categorized to explore the experiences of BAME people as well as measures of central tendency and dispersion were used on quantitative data in order to understand trends and co-relations. The study reveals several key outcomes: Fixed preconceptions arising out of race, scant opportunity to interact professionally, and lack of BAME personnel in dominant organizational positions ensure that BAME learners cannot advance further in their careers despite enrolling in CPD programmers. It has been established that the CPD programs are not very effective, the BAME candidates complained that the training does not make them earn a better position or get a salary increment like the white counterparts. Further, the study reveals that culture and organizations barriers and gates are among the barriers to complete inclusion and effectiveness of CPD BAME employees in their workplaces. The results have various implications for the policy-makers, educators and employers. Therefore, the current study’s findings are particularly important for policymakers to support more effective and sensitive policy measures to help BAME populations in the workplace. The authors recommend that educational institutions need to carry out changes in the content and the delivery of the CPD programs, such that they are appropriate for the BAME participants. Companies are encouraged to come up with better policies on how best to mainstream employees’ ethnicity, and how the promotion policies can be made fair and inclusive. The Authors therefore argue that while the acquisition of continuing, education and professional development are most important in career advancement, they are not in themselves adequate to either close the employment division or foster economic opportunity for BAME people in the UK. There is, therefore, a need for reforms at the system level to remove the social factors that act as hurdles to the actualization of these learning programs by BAME workers. Based on the study, the following policies, collaborative professional development, and organizational development solutions are proposed.