To explore professional journeys of BAME Managers, their experience and the discourses and practices used by the higher management

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The annual census conducted by DfE in September 2019 of social care workforce ethnicity indicates 78% to be white, 12% black, 6% Asian, and 4% mixed. A survey of Directors of Children Services in 2020 reveals that out of 94 DCSs who provided data, 94% identified as white British (84%), white Irish (3%) or other white (7%). Only 1% identified as black African, with the same percentage for black Caribbean and white and Asian. This disparity between the ethnic and racial composition of the overall workforce and senior management brings to question the profession's commitment to equality and diversity. Scholars have argued that institutional racism and discrimination play a key role in black and ethnic minority social workers being often overlooked for development opportunities (Balloch et al.,1995; Butt & Davey,1997). They highlight the adverse psychological and physical consequences of discrimination on employees and service users (Williams et al. 2003, Bloefield 2004). The recent backdrop of the global Coronavirus pandemic exposing the systemic impact of disadvantage on health outcomes (The Health Foundation 2020) and the murder of George Floyd has created a perfect storm to push social care organisations to acknowledge institutional, inherent, systemic bias and its consequences for people of colour. Scholars in their attempt to explore the reasons for these disparities have highlighted arguments around multi-culturalism, post-racial society, immigration, and manifestation of problematic individual behaviour to have ignored the role of institutional and structural racism (Salisbury 2020 & Dominelli 2018). Reassuringly there are recent efforts appropriated to enable white leaders to understand the enormity of the problem and the urgency of change needed. Hence the researcher aims to conduct a qualitative study on the racial inequality in senior leadership in social care organisations, with a view to explore behaviours, discourses and social processes of the organisational culture that maintains the current status quo.