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Who is being nominated for awards?
Farida Aslam talks about the experience of judging last year’s Women in Housing awards, and why so many of the excellent candidates who were Black, Asian or ethnic minority had to nominate themselves rather than be put forward by their organisations
Last year, I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the judges on the Women in Housing Leaders 2020 power list.
Not only was this an honour, it was also a truly inspiring experience to read first-hand the stories of so many women, some of whom had overcome adversity and achieved so much, personally and professionally, for the sector and the people that it looks to serve.
The wealth of talent within the sector, and the conviction with which these housing professionals were working to fill a much-needed role in providing the fundamental basics of a home, rightly needs to be celebrated. The entries demonstrated all of this, and much more, in abundance.
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I have always strived to act with equality, integrity and fairness in my work and personal life, but as a newly appointed member of the Race and Housing editorial panel, I was acutely aware of my new role and the need to consider race in all housing-related matters. That, for me, included these awards, too.
“Why was it that the self-nominations I came across were mainly from Black, Asian and minority ethnic women? Have these housing professionals learnt that they will not be considered and therefore need to take action themselves?”
What I found was that the number of entries for Black, Asian and minority ethnic housing professionals on the list (looking only at the names as a guide) were few and far between. But what struck me was the number of those with a name suggesting they were BAME who were self-nominations. These individuals had inspirational stories and truly deserved a space in the entries – why did no one else feel the need to nominate them?
The awards committee at that time didn’t monitor entries from a race or wider equalities perspective. I have no doubt that if there was enough appetite, monitoring could be built in.
But, for me, the question is: why should we need to do this? Surely if someone is doing formidable work, they aught to be considered and not overlooked because of their colour? Why was it that the self-nominations I came across were mainly from Black, Asian and minority ethnic women? Have these housing professionals learnt that they will not be considered and therefore need to take action themselves?
These questions stay with me, as I don’t know the answers. What I would say is, we don’t know what we don’t know… and maybe sharing this will alert those housing professionals who are looking to nominate in future to take a wider look through their equality lens before considering their award nominations.
Farida Aslam, senior neighbourhoods manager (services to older people and community investment), Vale of Glamorgan Council
