Promoting employer action to tackle ethnic disparities – understanding local opportunities

Youth Futures Foundation was set up with a particular focus on the findings of the Race Disparity Audit in 2017. While our organisational scope is broader than this, addressing the employment disparities that prevail for young people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds is a key priority.

As part of this commitment, we have recently released further funding to our flagship Connected Futures programme to develop partnerships in places where youth unemployment is particularly high for those of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage. This builds on the work of our existing partnerships in areas such as Brent, where young people from Black and other minoritised ethnic backgrounds report experiencing barriers to employment.

Our partners in these areas will work closely with local employers to create pathways into employment for young people. To help them do this, we want to understand the most effective approaches for engaging employers and promoting the uptake of inclusive employment practices. 

For this project, we are seeking to commission qualitative research to explore the following research question: “What are the key opportunities and barriers to employers taking action to address ethnic disparities and tackle racial discrimination? How can identified barriers be addressed?”. The commissioned research partner will undertake place-based case studies in our partnership areas, with the aim of delivering insights which shape their project delivery.

We welcome proposals either  from a team at a single organisation or  from two or more organisations working in partnership. 

For further details of the project and guidance on submitting a proposal, read our guide.

Project Timeline   

• Deadline for submission of questions:  8 July 2024  
• Question responses circulated: 12 July 2024  
• Proposal submission deadline: 19 July 2024  
• Interviews: W/b 29 July 2024    
• Start date: W/b 5 August 2024 
• Final report signed off: End of May/beginning of June 2025

The total budget for this work is £120,000.    

Please submit your proposal to via email by 12:00 on  Friday 19 July 2024.   

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss the tender in more depth, please email us, using the subject line ‘Qualitative research: Promoting employer action’

Take a look at our FAQs, here.