Our CEO Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa shares why we need to start talking about social mobility in a different way and the impact we can have by changing the conversation.
Speaking up about social mobility
It’s great to see the efforts of organisations like Social Mobility Day who are raising the volume on the social mobility conversation and we’re proud to support their campaign by sharing stories from across our network.
Growing up in the UK – one of the world’s richest countries – should translate to a wealth of opportunity where every young person has a chance to achieve their potential and their life path isn’t dictated by their postcode, background, or family history.
Yet the reality for too many young people is one of ceilings and barriers. In fact, the UK ranks amongst the lowest for social mobility in developed countries. And it’s why we need to make sure social mobility is taken seriously, and that all of us – employers, policy makers, educators, charities – work together to change outcomes for the young people of this country.
And that starts with the way we talk about social mobility. If we want to create sustainable change, we need to take a second look at how we’re framing the social mobility conversation.
The language we use and the stories we tell are powerful tools that impact how we see ourselves and the world around us, so it’s important that we speak about social mobility from an ‘asset-based’, inclusive, and empowering point of view.
More than kids from council estates becoming CEOs
All too often conversation about social mobility has been focused on the inspiring stories of talented yet underrepresented young people pursuing careers in ‘prestigious’ sectors such as law, politics medicine, or finance.
Whilst this is something we applaud and encourage, and something we’ve helped countless young people achieve through our programmes, it’s critical that we remember that social mobility is about more than helping kids from council estates to become CEOs.
Changing the conversation
Social mobility is about creating opportunity for every young person, regardless of where they come from, in a way that reflects their aspirations and circumstances.
It’s securing the first stable job when your family has experienced generations of worklessness. It’s being the first in your family to get into higher education. It’s the freedom to choose what you want to do with your life and where you do it – and feeling empowered to achieve those things.
When we look at social mobility from a more holistic perspective, we see that success looks different for to us all – so our approach to the topic needs to be far more wide-reaching. By having so much of the social mobility conversation focussed on the inspiring stories of kids from council estates becoming CEO’s, we’re often not helping every young person live and celebrate their own social mobility story.
That’s why at Career Ready we aim to celebrate social mobility in all its forms, and keep it centred on what each individual strives to achieve. We support young people in forging their own paths – whether it’s giving them access to particular industries or deciding which option to pursue at post-18.
We hope you join us in this – together we can empower young people across the country to find the right future for them and give them the support they need to live it.
