" class="no-js "lang="en-US"> EXCLUSIVE: Diversity In Finance - How Socially Mobile Is Our Industry?
Friday, March 29, 2024

EXCLUSIVE: Diversity In Finance – How Socially Mobile Is Our Industry?

There should be a place for everybody to have a voice in their workplace. Towards the end of last month, the Social Mobility Foundation, a UK based charity, launched its fifth annual Employer Index. The SMF is renowned for propelling practical improvements in social mobility for young people from low-income backgrounds. The Social Mobility Employer Index is one example of this, acting as a leading authority. It is a study which examines how companies are driving social mobility within their organisations, across the entire country. This year, a total 203 employers participated, marking a record high submission rate for the charity. We all like to convince ourselves that we do right and that, as a society, we are progressive and forward-thinking, but what does the data suggest? Let’s take a closer look.

Which organisations are leading the way on social mobility? – In terms of sectors, the most represented sectors included Law (25%), Banking, financial services and insurance (18%) and the Public sector (16%). As we cover the world of fintech, it does bode well that our community is second place for promoting the opportunities, provisions, and esteems for those who are underrepresented already.

Firms such as KPMG and Grant Thorton were at the forefront of the rankings. This reflects the positive progress being made by such companies in these industries, where it is common to offer internships for young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to address organizational social mobility from a board level. The result is that over 5.42 million students benefited from school outreach by 11 organisations last year. Despite this, Sarah Atkinson, CEO of the Social Mobility Foundation, said that ‘opportunity creation for the next generation, especially those from less well-off backgrounds, must be prioritized in the years ahead.’ And that leads us to our next question. In reality, are we doing enough to promote social mobility in our organisations?

Are we doing enough? No – Here are some stats from the findings in the index that typify the barriers we still must overcome:

  • Just 55% of employers conducted outreach work in social mobility cold spots
  • 44% of entrants did not collect socioeconomic data from their current employees
  • Only 22% are publishing data, despite this being crucial to developing a social mobility strategy
  • Around one half (48%) of organisations selected that they did not work with national or local government on social mobility – a missed opportunity for the levelling-up agenda

These stats do reveal something. There is clearly a resistance towards promoting an atmosphere of greater transparency. This results in less awareness, and less awareness results in continued inequality of opportunity from poorer, younger individuals in our society. It isn’t good enough. How can just under half of the entrants not collect socioeconomic data from their current employees? If you don’t look at all the factors, how can you see all the avenues that structural inequalities prevails from?

Rt Hon. Alan Milburn, Chair of the Social Mobility Foundation, commented that ‘“The pandemic has exposed the new geography of disadvantage in Britain and, through disruption in the classroom, exam hall and workplace, created serious barriers to young people’s opportunities. If older people have been on the health frontline of the pandemic it is the young who seem doomed to suffer the biggest economic and social consequences.‘ This is a very powerful statement, and it goes to show the essentiality of supporting the youth. If the pandemic will have the worst long term effects for them, then not having access and opportunity in the workplace alongside that makes way for a very dystopian future. As a 23 year old writing this right now, I can’t help but feel worried for what may lie ahead for mine and my family’s future.

Sarah Atkinson, CEO of the Social Mobility Foundation, said that ‘opportunity creation for the next generation, especially those from less well-off backgrounds, must be prioritized in the years ahead.’

How does the index work – To clarify, the index consists of two key elements; simply, one for employers and one for employees. Employers are evaluated across seven areas:

  • The work they do with young people
  • Routes into the employer
  • The attraction of staff,
  • Recruitment and selection
  • Data collection
  • Progression of staff
  • Experienced hires and advocacy.

What does the employee do? Well, employees are surveyed to provide qualitative insights which contextualises the data provided by employers. Employers are then benchmarked against one another based on the results. The relevant conclusions from this process are then published in an annual Key Findings Report which features a ranking of the 75 top-performing employers on social mobility that year.

Steps in the future, for our future – Milburn further commented on this, saying that ‘employer-led social mobility will be vital in bridging the divide and delivering the levelling up agenda. All of the employers represented in the Index are showing that it is possible to create a society where it is not background or birth but aptitude and ability that dictate progress in life. They are providing it is possible to build back better. If we are to rescue the fraying promise of a meritocratic society, then more employers must join them and the government must follow suit in taking targeted action to address social mobility.’

We must do more, and with greater transparency, we will be better able to evaluate the situation and ensure opportunities, provisions and esteem are better provided to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

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