Celebrating South Asian identities

Dr Amrit Sachar and Dr Raj Mohan, the College's Joint Presidential Leads for Equity and Equality have written a blog post to conclude our celebrations of South Asian History Month.

An incredible 4,000 members and affiliates of the RCPsych (almost a quarter of the total) are of South Asian heritage. These psychiatrists quietly and tirelessly deliver mental health services across the four nations, in challenging environments. There is no better time to say we thank you and we celebrate you to our South Asian psychiatrists than during South Asian History Month.

This year’s theme for RCPsych follows that of the South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM) which is fittingly free to be me. This encapsulates the right to be oneself and to bring to work, all aspects of our ethnicity, religion, culture and language to celebrate our South Asian identity.

This means that we bring all aspects of our intersectional selves to our workplace, without code-switching our ethnic characteristics, masking our neurodivergence, disguising our sexuality, or making ourselves invisible in order to not offend or up-stage others. Cross-cultural code-switching as defined by Molinsky is the “act of purposefully modifying one’s behavior, in a specific interaction, in a foreign setting in order to accommodate different cultural norms for appropriate behaviour” (1). It can take a toll over time and contribute to challenges in career progression. Loss of identity is further impacted by disproportionate harassment and bullying, disciplinary action and excess referrals to the GMC they face.

Fairness for all

Fairness for All is one of the College President Dr Lade Smith’s six College priorities as part of our co-produced strategy in 2024 to 2026.

In addition to the protected characteristics under the Equality Act (2010), the RCPsych has pledged to spotlight and emphasise intersectional disadvantage which also includes structural factors such as poverty, deprivation and class. Intersectionality represents the concept of fighting discrimination within discrimination, tackling inequalities within inequalities and protecting minorities within the minorities. (2)

RCPsych launched the Act Against Racism campaign at the College International Congress in June 2023.  This campaign is the culmination of a huge effort from many members and College staff, to not only call out the ongoing issue of racism in the workplace in mental health services but to provide organisations with a practical toolkit – our Tackling Racism in the Workplace Guidance (TRIW) – to help them with implementing the initiative. 

The TRIW Guidance focuses on 15 actions that organisations can address at system level as well having specific actions to address the discrimination faced by International Medical Graduates (many of whom come from South Asia), and SAS doctors, almost three quarters of whom are from minoritised ethnic groups. 

In addition to the guidance and How To support for organisations, there are helpful resources for psychiatrists who may be struggling or experiencing racism in the workplace and need support and for all professionals, there is practical advice on how to be a good ally.

A year on, 15 organisations have signed up to the Act Against Racism Campaign and we have held our first campaign membership webinar to hear from aspirational organisations that have started using the guidance to deliver improved working lives for South Asian and other minoritised ethnic psychiatrists. See this blog Tackling Racism in the Workplace: A year on by Ruth Adams , RCPsych Head of EDI Strategy for more on the this webinar.

Importantly the RCPsych have been working on strategic approaches to tackle discrimination faced by women doctors with plans to publish a Women’s Mental Health Matters strategy. We have published actions for organisations to take to support LGBT+ doctors in their workplace and are finalising guidance to support doctors with disabilities. 

This is the time to celebrate the South Asian identity and the contributions our doctors make in psychiatry. By bringing our whole selves to work, and being true to who you are, we do justice to ourselves and it enhances what we do at work. Happy South Asian History Month all!

References

1. Molinsky A. Cross-cultural code-switching: the psychological challenges of adapting behavior in foreign cultural interactions. Acad Manage Rev. 2007;32(2)

2. Crenshaw K W. Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color