GovWire

What the Social Mobility Team do

What is social mobility?

Social mobility is the ability of individuals to move to a different social class. This is impacted by factors such as education, wealth and employment. Research suggests that the life chances of a child born today in Britain are closely linked to their parents socio-economic background and the income gap between the richest and poorest in the UK continues to widen, leading to differential opportunities depending on your background.

How does this link to the Civil Service?

The Civil Service is one of the largest employers in the country. The Navigating the Labyrinth report showed that there is still a lot of work to be done to improve career progression and opportunities for colleagues from low socio-economic backgrounds, especially because civil servants from disadvantaged backgrounds are significantly under-represented in the Senior Civil Service.

To thrive as an organisation, the Ministry of Justoce (MOJ) must reflect the society we serve, attracting people to work for us based on merit and potential, rather than polish; on capability rather than cultural capital. Research has shown that amongst other benefits, having a diverse workforce promotes new ways of thinking and different approaches to problem solving. A persons background should not be a limiting factor in the Civil Service, rather it is an asset to be used to improve policy making and service delivery, hence why supporting the social mobility agenda is woven into everything we do.

Offer for Teachers

School Outreach Programme

MOJ has developed a national schools outreach programme as part of its commitment to increase social mobility. We target our programme at schools with 20% or more of their pupils on free school meals, so if this is your school, please reach out to the MOJ Social Mobility Team.

Our volunteers are keen to visit your school virtually or face to face to run a session with pupils to increase awareness, build confidence and potentially enhance the career aspirations of young people as they transition from school to employment. The programme is designed to target 14 to18 year olds, but sessions can be devised to appeal to pupils of all ages.

As well as increasing engagement and awareness, visits will also provide an opportunity to signpost potential entry points into the Civil Service such as apprenticeships, and internships to ensure that these initiatives are promoted to young people from a diverse range of backgrounds. Our volunteers can deliver a range of sessions to meet the specific needs of your school and your pupils. We currently offer:

• A 30 Minute Career Presentation Story (Including an overview of careers available in MOJ)
• Activity days
• Careers Fairs (Including highlighting our Apprenticeship Schemes)
• Mock interviews
• Speed Networking Events

We understand that times have changed due to the pandemic and many of these events are happening virtually now, which we are also able to offer via Microsoft Teams, if youd like to discuss further please let us know.

If you are interested in hosting sessions from volunteers as part of the MOJ Social Mobility Programme, or have a session planned youd like us to attend, please email the MOJ Social Mobility Team. Our team will pair you with at least one volunteer and put you in contact with them. This is when you can discuss their visit to ensure you get the optimum value for your school and your pupils.

Offer for Students

STEP into Justice Work Experience Programme

STEP Into Justice is the Social Mobility work experience offer. It is available to students that identify as coming from a lower socio-economic background to increase their aspirations, confidence, and knowledge of the Civil Service.

In many schools, students are expected to arrange their own work experience placements, generally relying on their own or their parents social networks. This can act as a barrier to students who may have interests beyond the careers of their friends or family or whose familys networks are limited.

STEP Into Justice provides quality placements across the organisation, seeking out the right student for every available placement. This ensures students are motivated and engaged throughout their time with MoJ.

Students aged 14 to 24 will join us for between a day and 2 weeks. We also offer bespoke programmes in partnership with some third-party organisations.

To apply for a placement please complete the following form: STEP into Justice Work Experience Application Form

Graduate Aspiration Programme (GAP)

The Graduate Aspiration Programme (GAP) matches university undergraduates with Civil Servants who work across the Civil Service in occupations/professions the student is interested in. Mentees are encouraged to talk about their career aspirations and any opportunities or barriers to help focus conversations to improve their skills and gain knowledge.

The GAP Mentoring Scheme involves a 6 month commitment, November to April where mentors/mentees will meet via Microsoft Teams video call or phone call at least once per month. We also expect that there will be some email contact over the course of the mentoring period. Mentors may wish to invite their mentees to shadow them at work, take part in a site visit or attend meetings to observe their role (if appropriate).

We work with 42 universities across the UK and students must come from lower socio-economic backgrounds to take part in the programme. To see if your university takes part, email the team at socialmobility@justice.gov.uk.

If you are a university who doesnt currently take part, contact the team to talk about how you can get involved.