You are being invited to take part in a research study aims to understand the barriers Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) healthcare scientists face at work, and how these issues are perceived by healthcare scientists who are from different ethnic backgrounds, and who have different levels of seniority and experiences. This research will contribute towards a MSc Clinical Science (Neurosensory sciences) dissertation.

The aim of this research study is to understand the barriers BAME scientists face at work, and how these issues are perceived by healthcare scientists at different seniority levels, from different backgrounds, who have had different professional experiences. We are interested in comparing the views of Healthcare Scientists (roles at AfC Band 7 and below) with Lead Healthcare Scientists (roles at AfC Band 8 and above). We are also interested in comparing the views of healthcare scientist from BAME backgrounds, and white ethnic backgrounds.

An anonymous online questionnaire will collect observations from scientists within the UK healthcare science workforce. Questionnaire topics will cover observations of recruitment and career progression trends within the healthcare science profession and working as a BAME scientist in patient facing clinical roles and within the wider multidisciplinary team. Any Clinical Scientist who has been registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for more than one year can respond to the online questionnaire

Your views and experiences will be important to our aim of collecting a diverse range of perspectives and experiences. Your answers will inform our understanding of the barriers faced by BAME healthcare scientists at all levels, and what solutions can be pursued to improve these barriers. By comparing the views of BAME scientists to those in Lead healthcare scientist roles (from any ethnic background), we hope to understand whether there are differences in what Lead scientists and BAME scientists perceive the barriers to be.

The hope is that by centring the perspectives of BAME scientists, their voices will lead the direction of future changes to be implemented to improve equality and diversity in the healthcare science workforce.

The online questionnaire is open until 28/02/2021 and can be accessed here: https://redcap.link/BAME-HCS

study advert – poster v2

Participant Information Sheet – questionnaire only

Participant Information Sheet – interview v2