The Skills Workshop: Making Finance more inclusive
Covid-19 and lockdown offered us all a stark reminder of the social and economic inequalities that continue to blight our society, not least racial inequality.
Finance has a particular problem. Research published by KPMG in 2019 showed that some 41% of financial services employees had parents working in the same sector – against a national average of 12% across other sectors.
Change requires a proactive approach. #TalkAboutBlack, in partnership with the CFA Society UK, Encircle and the Diversity Project, has launched The Skills Workshop to create greater opportunities and a more diverse pipeline of talent for the investment and savings industry. The programme offers university students help to start their financial careers and build social capital through a focus on industry awareness, financial literacy, application preparation, workplace confidence and a virtual careers fair.
Brunel has worked with The Diversity Project for some time, and is already involved in promoting diversity on boards and across companies generally through shareholder activism. But for the industry to make meaningful change, it also needs to walk the talk and focus on expanding graduate recruitment beyond the usual channels.
Brunel Pension Partnership is thrilled to be one of sixty launch firms involved in the initiative, open to all students with a particular interest in increasing social mobility and tackling the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in the industry. Brunel invites students to register for our careers fair slot on 28 October.
Next steps
Who can sign up to The Skills Workshop?
- All university disciplines and subjects welcome
- All predicted grades welcome
- All age groups welcome (from pre-university to postgraduates and mature students)
Sessions are free to attend and will be delivered virtually.
Visit The Diversity Project website to sign up and please share with your networks and encourage anyone you can to attend.
View The Skills Workshop introductory video: