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Why focus on socio-economic background?
Competitive advantage
Raise your game. Employees from a lower socio-economic background perform at least as well as their more advantaged colleagues, and often outperform them. In professional service firms, for example, trainees from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to achieve the highest performance.
Why restrict your talent pool? Diverse workforces give you access to a wider recruitment pool. You may also benefit from higher employee engagement and lower turnover. Greater diversity could make you a destination employer for the high-performing individuals that will drive your success in the future.
Work on your image. People want to see people who look like them, and they want to work for a business with a purpose. Building a visibly diverse workforce signals a commitment to inclusion and improving society. Companies interested in the long term recognise the benefits of this for their reputation and image.
The next frontier
Recent years have seen a drive to increase diversity in businesses. So far, these efforts have focused primarily on gender and ethnicity. However, forward-looking companies across industries are now looking at how to increase socio-economic diversity as part of this thriving agenda.
The socio-economic backgrounds of people in professional jobs
From a professional background
From a working class background
An untapped opportunity
Individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds are a positive asset to businesses, but they are under-represented in professional occupations. People whose parents held professional jobs are more likely to be in a professional job themselves. Likewise, people from professional backgrounds are three times more likely to move
to London where the greatest concentration of professional jobs exists. However, larger employers are increasingly recognising the benefits of shifting this pattern, and are targeting the UK’s social mobility ‘coldspots’ to benefit from talent that exists there.
The power gap: the percentage of privately educated people in leading UK roles
People attending independent schools
Privately educated people in leading roles
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Latest news and blogs
Social Mobility Data Masterclass – why you need to #AskTheQuestion
In our recent Social Mobility Data Masterclass, we explored the importance of collecting data on employee’s socio-economic backgrounds for creating effective diversity and inclusion strategies. You can watch the recording of the Social Mobility Data Masterclass here. We were joined by Andrew Young, Workforce Diversity Lead at the BBC; Cliff Sale, Social Mobility Programme Lead, […]
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21 April for the launch event on our upcoming research paper:
13/04/2021
Join us on 21 April for the launch event on our upcoming research paper: ‘Navigating the labyrinth’ – a comprehensive study on how socio-economic background shapes career #progression within the Civil Service, with key learnings for employers. Sign up to attend here ➡ https://lnkd.in/dUJ46Yr
Led by our Commissioner, Sam Freidman, the report sparks discussion about the unwritten rules to progression. It’s an example of the UK Civil Service taking the lead on #SocialMobility; acknowledging what more needs to be done and showing others how they can follow suit.
At the #LaunchEvent we’ll discuss the findings of the report and what it means for social mobility.
The event will be chaired by Sandra M Wallace, interim Co-Chair, Social Mobility Commission. Joining her on the #panel is:
• Professor Sam Freidman, Social Mobility Commission
• Nik Miller, Bridge Group
• Louise Ashley, Royal Holloway, University of London
• Dr Dave O’Brien, The University of Edinburgh
• Bernadette Kelly, Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom and Social Mobility Champion in the Civil Service
• Alex Thomas, Institute for Government
See you there!
#WhoGetsOn
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