“It shreds me from within”: thematic analysis of the impact of racism on veterinary professionals and students in the United Kingdom

Background: Calls to tackle racism, especially in the workplace, have risen recently around the world and much research has examined the experiences of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) people in professions with relatively high ethnic diversity. Far less has investigated these experiences in low ethnic diversity professions, however, where BAME people may face a different and more damaging range of challenges in a context where racism is often overlooked. This qualitative study advances existing understanding of this topic by examining the psychological impact of racism on BAME people in one of the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) least ethnically diverse professional groups: the veterinary sector.
Methods: All BAME people working or studying in any part of the UK veterinary sector were invited to complete an online questionnaire disseminated via veterinary schools, organisations, social media, and other veterinary media. The questionnaire included two open questions that asked participants to describe: (i) any incidents regarded as racist that they had witnessed or experienced in the context of the veterinary sector, and (ii) how they felt, how they dealt with the incidents, and any impact the incidents had on their wellbeing, mental health, or job satisfaction. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, with a combination of inductive (data-driven) and deductive (theorydriven) approaches, underpinned by a critical realist ontology and a contextualist epistemology.
Results: Analysis produced three main themes: Alienation and insecurity, Homogenisation and inferiorisation, and Disappointment and futility, with an overarching theme of Identity conflict. Drawing on Identity Process Theory (IPT), the findings showed how experiencing racism in the workplace undermined some or all of the participants’ six ‘identity principles’ that IPT proposes are necessary to construct and maintain a positive sense of identity: continuity, distinctiveness, self-efficacy, self-esteem, belonging, and meaning. In addition, racism altered participants’ sense of identity in undesirable ways on both interpersonal and individual levels.
Conclusions These findings highlight an urgent need to acknowledge and address racism in low ethnic diversity professions, and offer new insight into the psychological consequences of systemic, societal racism on a broader scale.