Navigating racist encounters in the workplace: experiences of young people in Birmingham, Melbourne and Toronto

This article discusses findings from a four year multisite study on how migrant youth in Melbourne, Toronto and Birmingham experienced and responded to racist encounters within the workplace. Firstly, we highlight through our research how regardless of time and place, examples of racist tropes and discriminatory language share similar features, embedded within colonial racial hierarchies, across the three contexts. Secondly, we discuss how young people made sense of such incidents and their decisions on whether to respond to the perceived discrimination they experienced. Adding to literature on young people and agency, we argue that participants’ decisions to respond to racism are nuanced and thought through, weighing up the “costs” of challenging racial stereotypes for maintaining relationships with colleagues from the white majority, and the impact this may have for career progression.