Social Mobility Toolkit for the Professions - Equality and Human ...

introduction continued
inadequate. While some professional bodies, regulators
and employers have worked to collect data on gender and
ethnicity, and take these into consideration in recruitment
and outreach processes, there is little evidence that they are
similarly attuned to individuals’ socioeconomic background.
� establishing a benchmark: the first instance of data
collection will allow employers and professions to establish
a benchmark, from which they can track improvement.
hard data – as opposed to anecdotal evidence – will
make it easier for employers to report to professional
regulators, and for the professions as a whole to report to
government bodies and the newly created Social Mobility
and child poverty commission. We hope that having
data on the current make-up of the professions will also
make stakeholders – from careers advisers and universities
admissions offices to graduate employers – think twice
about whom they are helping to enter the professions,
and whom they are overlooking. Monitoring can help to
provide evidence to support policymaking. this is especially
important in deciding where resources should be allocated.
� Measuring socioeconomic background: Monitoring staff
socioeconomic background through “proxies” such as
parental education or type of school attended can only
give us a partial picture of social mobility in the professions.
however, this is presently the most practical and robust
measure available to organisations wishing to understand the
socioeconomic background of their staff and subsequently
assess whether any programmes and steps they have
implemented are yielding results. Monitoring helps to
identify if progress is being made over time and shows that
the professional organisation is transparent and proactively
addressing any potential gaps rather than merely reacting as
and when the issue of social mobility arises.
� improving access and rethinking current practices: our
consultations with numerous professions confirm that,
although many employers and organisations would like to
take steps to enhance fair access to the professions, they do
not know where or how to start. our best practice section
outlines steps taken by certain professions that could be
mimicked by others and also identifies a relevant selection
of outreach and charity projects.
10 Social Mobility toolkit For the proFeSSionS
the toolkit is:
� a short, user-friendly guide it is designed to measure,
help to shape and facilitate social mobility within
organisations and the professions.
� a starting point this is why we have chosen to focus on
access to the professions, rather than try to tackle the
additional, and more complicated, issue of progression
within the professions.
� built from the ground up the toolkit is fit for use by
small employer organisations with no dedicated hr
functions, with easy and low-cost recommendations.
it also recommends further actions for professional
bodies and regulators, as well as employers with greater
resources (see pages 19 and 27).
� a balancing act it attempts to strike a balance between
the need for robust proxies to monitor social mobility
and the need for practical and viable monitoring and
implementation.
� For the long term improving access to the professions
is a large-scale, long-term venture that will not yield
quick results. organisations need to regularly monitor
the socioeconomic background of staff/members
and engage in outreach activities beyond once-a-year
careers events.
� Fulfilling society’s expectations: Government, regulators, the
media and civil society expect the professions to respond
accordingly to the issues laid out by the panel on Fair access
to the professions in 2009. the coalition Government
has made social mobility a key focus, encouraging
businesses to sign up to voluntary guidelines such as the
business compact (see page 31). take-up of the toolkit’s
recommendations on data collection and best practice will
be an important part of demonstrating progress.