Social Mobility in Early Careers 2023 - a webinar held on Wednesday 22 March 2023

Established in 2009, Sanctuary Graduates who are partnered with The Social Mobility Foundation , work with companies to provide data insights and bespoke campaigns. Their access reaches 2.5 million students in over 200+ universities in the UK, with 1,000+ brand ambassadors working across the UK and EMEA. Their tailored services specifically cover target attraction; marketing campaigns; dedicated brand ambassadors on campus; screening; assessments; diversity initiatives and outsourced recruitment. Their data can filter the demographics through any UK university, any degree subject or skill set.

For each client diversity campaign money is donated to The Social Mobility Foundation, and their university participation partners.

Hosted by Kris Eskesen , a number of webinars were held with speakers confirming their current research findings; actions being taken; best practice recommendations; and panellists sharing their lived experiences. This article provides summaries and detailed analysis of the most relevant issues.

Overall brief summary

• Low social mobility affects the economy with many young people living in poverty, and this attainment gap is widening.
• 42% of people last year, according to the Social Mobility Index, felt employers should do more to improve social mobility.
• The predictor of opportunity is proven to be relevant to where you start out.
• Barriers to recruiting those from socio-economic backgrounds are caused when employers rely solely on Russell Group universities to source candidates, e.g. In 2022, according to the the Social Mobility Index, 75% of students were employed from these universities.
• The standard gold question to ask to identify those from social mobility backgrounds should be to ask; what the parental occupation of the applicant is at the age of 14, followed by; have they been in care; or were they eligible for free school meals.
• Financial support is a factor for those who cannot attend work experience opportunities without travel expenses paid, and if relevant, accommodation.
• Levelling the playing field has many other barriers such as; people asking what university they went to, leading to judgement; and lecturers telling their students that without obtaining work experience they will be left behind.
• The current pay gap is affected by classism - this video displays the horrors of workplace classism: www.staydown.co.uk

How level is the playing field in 2023?

Samson Wendes - The Social Mobility Foundation, Employer Relations & Business Development Manager

The Social Mobility Foundation was started in 2005 to support aspiring professionals who qualified through a criteria covering; those who received free school meals; and those who were the first generation in their family to go to university. They work with The Social Mobility Index on structural issues to address the digital access gap and class pay gap.

The Social Mobility Employer Index can also benchmark the impacts of businesses and provide feedback on social mobility strategies. Companies can enter, anonymously if they prefer, for a feedback report providing advice on suggested improvements. (The current closing date to enter is 9 June 2023).

The bad news

• Britain is an elitist nation with the top professions still correlated to background, despite the realisation that employers need to make changes and encourage diversity.
• Many employers still offer unpaid internships which is unacceptable considering the current cost of living.
• There are often exit fees when a graduate programme is not completed, which should be made clear before any contracts are signed.

The better news

• Organisations are committing to closing the class pay gap.
• The pandemic highlighted the affordability on access to technology i.e. owning a laptop, so this is now factored in when employing candidates.
• 30% of employers don’t have entry requirements so can use contextual data to flag candidates from social mobility backgrounds - however, this percentage needs increasing.

Summary of suggested interventions

• Data is key to tracking those from socio-economic backgrounds, however, the data is often inaccurate due to the stigma in ticking those boxes. To ensure data is collected, clearly state the information obtained is used only to support candidates from socio-economic backgrounds, and not used in the selection or recruitment process.
• If applicable to the profession, less reliance should be made on academic requirements and recruiting those who complete work experience, through using strengths-based assessments which judge motivation and potential. These also provide hypothetical scenarios of real situations in the workplace which help the candidate to understand what the role requires.
• When academic minimum criteria is required for a particular profession, contextual data can be successfully included in the screening process, identifying the talent from socio-economic backgrounds.
• When advertising for placements, avoiding the request for minimum academic requirements will allow talented students to apply and be assessed contextually. It is a fact that the outcomes of a placement often lead to a graduate hire.
• For professions who do not require an academic criteria, selecting candidates through strengths-based assessments will test motivation and potential and abilities through hypothetical scenarios.
• Employers should balance out engagement with both Russell and non-Russell Group universities as this would have a significant impact on those recruited from socio-economic backgrounds.
• School engagement outreach should be approached through obtaining data from The Social Mobility Foundation to highlight those needing the most support, as opposed to just choosing a school nearby. Alongside work activities, providing mentoring schemes and sending out newsletters are recommended.
• To avoid disproportionate attrition from socio-economic candidates, ensure that work experience vacancies advertised include information on how you support your employees in your workplace, for e.g. mentoring schemes and relevant employee networks. This will encourage candidates who are less confident about applying to know they will be supported and affect their decision to apply.

How to improve social mobility in your organisation

Panellists: Janine Glasenberg , Goldman Sachs; Tom Lyas , Browne Jackson LLP; and Freya Walker , KPMG

KPMG have set targets to increase their social mobility employees by 2030, with improvements being made through:

• A blind recruitment process with no CVs; all interviewers completing mandatory unconscious bias training; and socio-economic training around economic barriers.
• Using contextual data they focus on potential alongside academic results and consider individual circumstances.
• In 2021 they implemented strengths-based assessments so talent into the business is not reliant on just work placements.
• An employee network called ‘Upbringing’ empowers colleagues to develop their goals and support each other and build a community.

Goldman Sachs run mentoring programmes across the country with charities, 6th Form Colleges and high schools. Their work has covered:

• A request for mentors which resulted in 500 offers in 24 hours.
• A new residential school programme called Teachfirst, available to UK candidates, which pays for travel and accommodation to London over three days, with selection based on enthusiasm and not academics.
• During the graduate internships they focus on building confidence, teaching presentation skills and understand office etiquette.
• Once recruited candidates are set up for success, ensuring a framework sets out their overall journey.

Browne Jackson LLP analyse their data regularly and believe that opportunities should be provided for talented individuals, despite their backgrounds. They are currently ranked No. 1 in the Social Mobility Index through having challenged the norm. Some of their key focuses are:

• Removing an academic criteria for applicants.
• Asking what the parental occupation was at aged 14, in addition to have they been in care or had free school meals.
• Ensuring role models speak about their experiences to inspire and show authenticity.
• Delivering a bespoke onboarding programme which is fit for purpose i.e. understanding how intimidating it can be for those with no experience of being in an office setting.
• Promotion processes that are transparent.

Talking proper – Could accent bias harm your job prospects?

Devyani Sharma , Professor at Queen Mary University London

Key takeaways

• Class bias is most prevalent from the age of 45 upwards.
• Accents were almost dismissed if someone spoke confidently about something they had expertise in and it was acknowledged that when speaking everybody needs to accommodate to a point, such as aiming to be clear, heard and slowing down speech.
• Research shows that reminding people not to show bias is not always effective because a saturated message has no effect.
• Accents were mocked or criticised more commonly outside of the workplace.
• In the British education system, there is a list of restricted slang words that can be used by ethnic minorities in schools. However, teachers face a difficult task with this in aiming to equip students with the language that will help them succeed.

This statement, when read prior to interviewing candidates, was proven to result in less bias.

'Recent research has shown that, when evaluating candidates’ performance, interviewers in the UK can be influenced by the candidates’ accents of English. In particular, they tend to rate candidates who speak with a “standard” accent more favourably than candidates who speak with “non-standard” accents. This is an example of so-called “accent bias.” The focus should be on the knowledge and skills of the candidate, not their accent. Please keep this in mind when assessing the suitability of candidates.’

Lived experience – insights from the candidates

Platini grew up in Birmingham, went to UCL and now has a career in banking as a Business Skills Manager. His key insights were:

• His accent made him feel he was not good enough initially, however, he quickly realised these thoughts were just in his head.
• Employers need to understand that finesse is something you learn in a job as most schools and universities do not prepare you.
• You should accept that you can fit in, despite not having the same outside interests as everyone else.
• Senior representation is important to those with similar backgrounds as this makes you feel more comfortable.

Viran grew up in West London with parents who were immigrants and work in customer service jobs. He now works at an accountancy firm as a Leadership, Executive Development & Professional Skills Manager. His insights were:

• He experienced confidence issues and the ability to speak up and put forward ideas from those more experienced.

However, the support provided when he joined his graduate programme covered:

• A Facebook page was set up prior to joining which enabled networking and looking at flat sharing.
• An insight day was organised to meet their teams before starting.
• Finance options were offered through a loan for rent and workwear.
• The graduate induction provided a structured programme and a buddy.
• Six weekly get togethers were organised to share experiences.

Beth grew up in a small town in Derbyshire, being the first generation to go to university, with brothers and uncles who are all labourers. She is now a lawyer but her barriers were:

• Terrible careers advice at school with no direction on what A levels to choose.
• Lecturers confirming without any work experience you will be left behind which is a damaging message.
• Finances which led to a brief halt in her career progression before obtaining a scholarship and qualifying as a solicitor.

The impact of Mentoring – Inspiring a generation

Margaret Ekpo and Celeste Man from PA Consulting

PA consulting set up a mentoring programme in 2021 to help those from underrepresented communities to help them into employment. They partner with organisations and Generation Success , who are a social enterprise who engage and provide opportunities to build networks, for those seeking career opportunities. They are now into their third year and looking to triple the number of people they reach, due to it's huge success and positive outcomes.

Six months of mentoring and services are provided to candidates through a structured programme focused on development through:

• Confidence building.
• Providing guidance on career paths outside of the traditional career.
• Networking opportunities which can lead to employment.
• Entering the workplace - tools and knowledge on a working environment.
• Workshops on CVs, resilience, and assessment centres.

The mentors are volunteers from the organisation who are signed up for 6 months and commit to one hour per month. The criteria for volunteers is set out through a questionnaire to assess why somebody wants to be a mentor and General Success manage the mentee's progress via an app so they can track their engagement, journey and goals.

A famous mentor quote:

"A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” Oprah Winfrey

Conclusion

If your organisation are seeking to improve social mobility hires, the advice is to enter into The Social Mobility Index which will provide an annual bench-mark and assessment of your current employee lifecycle from attraction through to progression into senior roles.