Capítulo Siete
PRINCIPIO 2: EQUIPANDO A LOS SANTOS
The remainder of this Report details how we believe all this can best be achieved.
In chapter 4 we focus on the role of parents, families and communities in supporting young people’s early aspiration for professional careers. We recommend new partnerships between the professions and government for:
a new national career mentoring scheme, linking up young professionals with young people
•
improved work experience, including structured ‘taster’ days or weeks in a professional job
•
early visits to universities, possibly with parents
•
more opportunities to build the soft skills vital to a professional career: communications,
•
teamworking, confidence.
This would all be backed by a national ‘Yes you can’ campaign, headed by inspirational role models, to encourage more young people to aspire to a professional career.
In chapter 5 we focus on schools and colleges. We want every school to be good and to raise aspirations. But we know that, although many are world leaders, there remains a tail of under-performance. Our recommendations involve:
closing the attainment gap by expanding the supply of good schools, particularly in
•
disadvantaged areas, giving parents there new ‘rights of redress’
increasing the number of city academies, which have been a significant success, at both
•
primary and secondary level
transforming careers advice in schools and colleges, abolishing the careers advice part of
•
Connexions service with a dedicated careers advisory service that is equipped to advise on access to the professions – and that starts from primary age
changing the school curriculum to place more emphasis on soft skill development and
•
extra-curricular activity
requiring schools to change the way they measure pupil outcomes, focusing on their end
•
destination rather than just qualifications.
In chapter 6 we focus on universities. A university degree remains the most effective route into all the professions – and the key to a much higher income throughout the graduate’s lifetime.
We recommend:
changing the traditional academic calendar to a more flexible all-year academic calendar –
•
offering different start times – and accrediting learning in smaller units investing more to support remote and online learning
•
removing the artificial and increasingly indefensible division between part-time and full-time
•
higher education in relation to funding, regulatory and student support frameworks.
In addition, in order to extend widening participation programmes, we recommend:
New partnerships between universities and local schools, and between universities and
•
the professions
That all universities take into account the educational and social context of pupils’ achievement
•
alongside attainment levels and aptitude tests to inform university admissions procedures Publishing more data about who gets into university, to help assess the effectiveness of
•
widening participation programmes.
Finally, we recommend a new vocational route to university through a programme of
Apprenticeship Scholarships: targeted, fully funded packages for the most talented apprentices to continue their studies at university.
In chapter 7 we look at internships and work experience. These have become a key route into many professional careers. Our recommendations involve:
Establishing a new internship code, which will create a fair and transparent system for
•
advertising and recruiting to internships
Introducing new forms of funding to support interns, including:
•
– changing the Student Loan system, so that interns can draw down their loan in four parts rather than three, to support summer vacation work and reviewing the case for additional support through this window
– offering micro-loans, perhaps managed by the Student Loans Company, to cover short internships
– extending the scope of Professional and Career Development Loans
– opening up university halls of residence to interns during the summer vacation, in order to provide low-cost accommodation.
We also propose that new guidance should be put in place for employers, and a new national Kitemark be introduced for internship schemes, recognising and rewarding best practice.
In chapter 8 recruitment and selection processes are examined to ensure that they allow people, regardless of background, a fair chance to get on. Our recommendations involve:
The collection of data on the socio-economic background of all members of the
•
Senior Civil Service
Each profession carrying out a review of current practice within the profession – reporting
•
publicly by the end of 2010, with an action plan for improvement.
Updating the online Professional Recruitment Guide, and, with joint promotion by the
•
professions and the Government, help employers to develop fairer recruitment practices.
In chapter 9 flexible entry and progression into the professions are examined. We consider new ways of opening up opportunities for a professional career, whether through Apprenticeships, entry later in life, or through switching careers. Our recommendations involve:
New vocational routes into the professions, with each profession working with the National
•
Apprenticeship Service and the relevant Sector Skills Councils to establish clear vocational progression routes into the profession
Increasing the use of paraprofessionals in public services and the professions, and ensuring
•
that there are clear progression maps from paraprofessional roles
Extending the right to flexible working to all, once economic circumstances allow and
•
supporting women and other returners back into careers
Simplifying access to training, through a new system of Lifelong Skills Accounts, in which
•
everyone is entitled to a training voucher up to the value of £5,000 at any time in their lives and for any training to be redeemed.
In chapter 10 we propose ways of delivering new opportunities. Our recommendations involve:
The Panel on Fair Access meeting annually for the next three years to assess and report
•
on progress
A reinvigoration of the UK Professional Collaborative Forum (now part of the Department
•
for Business, Innovation and Skills) with a broader remit for sharing best practice and advising employers
The creation of a new social mobility charter mark to recognise and reward employers’
•
best practice
Establishment of a new social mobility commission, tasked with overseeing progress towards
•
increased social mobility, and with advising government and employers on policy measures to raise social mobility.
Conclusion
We believe there is every chance of a second great wave of social mobility in our country. But we do not believe it will just happen. It requires a change of attitudes to broaden opportunities in society and at different stages of life. The professions need to take a lead in rejecting the old elitist notion that the UK can progress on the basis of opportunities being available only to some people some of the time. Instead, we advocate an approach that will see opportunities becoming available to more people more of the time. We reject the myth that this entails either dumbing down or social engineering. Instead, we believe it will benefit the professions and help both our society and our economy to flourish. We argue that it will need action from more than one organisation or one part of society. It is certainly not just a job for government or the professions.
It is a job for all.
This chapter sets out:
The importance of raising the aspiration of young people and the critical role of parents
•
How mentors and role models can whet young people’s appetites for a professional career
•
How technology can reach and inspire young people
•
Our recommendations, which involve:
•
– A reformed Gifted and Talented programme in schools
– A national programme for career mentoring and work ‘tasters’ for all talented young people in school
– A national ‘Yes you can’ campaign headed by inspirational role models and founded on a national school alumni network
– Sustained professional outreach into schools headed by a network of professional ambassadors
– Harnessing technology to inspire and inform young people through a national technology challenge award, and to create a dedicated ‘professions.com’ portal
– Financing our proposals through state and private partners working together, including through new ‘social mobility bonds’.