National Inclusion Week

National Inclusion Week, from September 28th-October 4th 2020

Inclusion has been a global hot topic for a while now and more so in these recent months with headlines around the world shining the spotlight on ‘difference’.

For employers to show their inclusivity, the theme for this week is Each One, Reach One. 

It is about the opportunity that we all have to make a connection either with someone else or with another organisation to help them understand the opportunity that comes from inclusion.  In the spirit of all playing our part this is my call to action to do just one thing this week that will make a difference to a person, a group or a workplace.

Here at Enginuity we have been trying to solve the problem of making engineering careers accessible to all.

Let’s imagine……..

What if we gave all our young people opportunities to change their world and ours?

What if we could find ways for hidden talent to shine through in new and exciting ways?

What if we removed barriers to employment by creating inclusive selection processes that are neuro-diverse?

The 2019 report published by EngineeringUK shared some stark realities around the challenges we face as a sector to be more diverse and inclusive.  The potential of untapped talent sitting in under-represented groups is staggering.

Let’s think about demand – EngineeringUK analysis projects an annual demand for 124,000 engineers and technicians, alongside an additional requirement for 79,000 “related” roles.

Let’s think about untapped talent through the lens of gender – the proportion of young people aged 11 to 14 who said they would consider a career in engineering was 54.7% in 2019.  There are sizeable and persistent gender differences, with boys being far more likely to consider a career in engineering.

In England, in the academic year 2017 to 2018 just 8.8% of females started an engineering-related apprenticeship 

What is it that’s holding talented females back from considering Engineering as a career?

What about ethnic background? – Engineering and technology graduates who are from a BAME background were less likely to be in engineering occupations or employed within the engineering sector than their male or white counterparts.  Why?  

What about the undiscovered superstars with Neurodiverse conditions? –  dyslexia, dyspraxia, ASD to name but a few.  The National Autistic Society explains that, “Autism is a lifelong disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world.” There are approximately 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.  Only 16% of autistic adults are in full-time employment -why is that?

How can we change the conversation around talent and ensure everyone has a fair chance?

We can only change the way we attract and hire talent if we are prepared to accept that we have an issue in the way we do things right now.  So many employers ask potential employees to follow their process, but what if we designed our selection processes differently and were truly committed to inclusivity enabling talent to shine through in different ways – surely that’s a win for everyone.

A step in the right direction to finding a solution.

How can Enginuity play its part and ‘each one, reach one’?  Why not have a look at SkillsMiner, a Minecraft based selection tool. Skills Miner is grounded in gamification, removes any candidate identifiers therefore removing unconscious bias and showcases skills and talents in engineering in a way that works for all – truly inclusive. 

If I have kept your attention to the end of the blog, as part of my personal each one, reach one, lets share one action that we commit to doing this week to support inclusive workplaces and opportunities for all.

After all, given the opportunity one engineer can change their world and ours.