Social mobility should explicitly be the top overarching social policy priority for this and future governments. The Government should develop new ways of embedding this priority across all government departments. It should develop new partnerships with civic institutions, professional bodies, community organisations and individual citizens to help deliver this priority.
Audience/stakeholder: The Professions
The Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum will lead in advising and reporting on progress in improving access. Professional bodies are asked to embed fair access into strategic planning and reporting, and to lead improvements in recruitment practices and widening routes into the professions, including vocational. The Forum and professional bodies will support campaigns to raise young people’s aspirations, and to promote best practice and encourage employers to support mentoring, internships and work experience schemes. They will also work with Government, schools and higher and further education sectors to improve information about professional careers and routes.
Recommendation 4: A national network of career mentors
The professions and Government should together introduce a national scheme for career mentoring by young professionals and university students of school pupils in Years 9 to 13. The national mentoring scheme should involve partnerships with employers, voluntary organisations, universities and schools.
Recommendation 5: A national network of career mentors
The professions and the Government should organise a ‘Yes you can’ campaign, headed by inspirational role models, to encourage more young people to aspire to a professional career.
Recommendation 6: School alumni
The Government, working with the professions and universities, should develop a national database of people willing to act as role models or mentors for young people in their former schools.
Recommendation 8: Opportunities to gain insights into professional life
The Government should establish a national work taster scheme for older school pupils, starting with those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. The professions should identify employers willing to take part. Together the Government and the professions should provide financial support for the project, which should be linked to the proposed national scheme for mentoring by young professionals and university students.
Recommendation 9: Professional outreach
Each profession should recruit and support a network of young professional ambassadors who would work with schools to raise awareness of career opportunities for young people. Professional bodies should recognise as continuous professional development the contribution of young professionals who volunteer their time.
Recommendation 10: Professional outreach
All schools should work with businesses and professions to promote and support professionally led outreach at late primary and early secondary age.
Recommendation 11: Harnessing technology to inform and inspire young people
The Government should work with a professional group to establish a ‘youth technology and innovation challenge’ award as a means of identifying and showcasing creative ways to inspire young people.
Recommendation 12: Harnessing technology to inform and inspire young people
The professions and the Government should create a ‘professions.com’ website to link young people to existing online information about professional careers and schemes, such as internship and mentoring programmes. The professions should provide relevant content and material to develop this website.
Recommendation 13: Financing these programmes through new partnerships
The Government should bring forward seed-corn funding, in the region of £2.5 million to £3 million, to fund the recommended proposals on mentoring, work tasters and an online portal. Projects should be co-funded by a partnership comprising government, professional bodies and employers.