We aim to include material on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) throughout our webpages. It’s a work in progress that will probably never be finished, and we acknowledge that it is not where we would like it to be yet! In the short term we are using this space to gather resources that might be useful to students who are traditionally underrepresented at university, in graduate employment generally or in a particular industry.
EDI is an issue being given increasing attention by graduate employers and there are a lot of charities, organisations and employer-led initiatives focusing on this.
Many employers are keen to increase diversity in the workforce for a variety of reasons:
- Wanting to better represent their clients, customers, service-users or stakeholders
- Improve decision-making and harness the creativity and innovation that comes from having a team of people with a variety of experiences and perspectives
- Because many groups of people have suffered in accessing work or in the work environment because of their identity and it's important to fight prejudice in all spheres of life
There is growing recognition that EDI initiatives and resources exist to help address historic inequality and help employers to become more inclusive and diverse. They are not there to imply students from certain demographics need help to become the ‘type of person’ employers want or to suggest some sort of deficit or failure.
Students are often keen to know whether employers’ commitment is genuine or a ‘tick box’ exercise. The list isn’t exhaustive, but we hope it’s a starting point for those students who would like to explore what employers are doing to help them in their decision-making or applications.
Black students will find other relevant resources at Black Advisory Hub including sector specific information.
Mature students will find some interesting insights through our Mature Students’ Careers Q&A Video series
Please look at our newsletters
AGCAS has a webinar on "Understanding your employability rights"
For disability-friendly employers, please see our disability support pages.
You may want to know which employers and industries are particularly active in anti-discrimination work and whose employees report they have been supportive in managing barriers that marginalised groups can face. The best way to find out more is by asking employers themselves and people who work for them (both current and previous employees). You might also want to follow/connect with people who are actively interested in EDI on social media.
You can also check employer websites and social media feeds to find out whether they engage in community events and campaigns or support and promote staff networks for underrepresented groups.
Our Mature Students Careers Q&A video series offers employer insights and advice for any students, including opinions on the advantages of hiring mature students
Employers may choose to advertise vacancies with diversity-focused websites such as Vercida or Diversity Link or they may be members of diversity focused professional networks such as inclusive companies or Employers network for equality and inclusion (ENEI)
Some job adverts might say they ‘particularly welcome’ applicants from certain communities that they have traditionally found difficult to attract.
Campaign groups also rank employers on diversity indicators.
- Stonewall 100, and the British LGBT awards lists employers that are particularly LGBT+ friendly
- ‘Inclusive companies’ publishes an inclusive top 50 list
- Working Families top 30 identifies employers who are particularly considerate of the needs of parents and carers
It’s worth bearing in mind that lists such as these tend to prioritise large organisations with the resources to engage with them. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and organisations not featured on the lists may still be welcoming and inclusive. Remember, you can always contact potential employers yourself to ask about EDI- or other questions that are important to you. Sometimes students worry about whether this will be viewed negatively but plenty of employers tell us that they take a positive view of people pro-actively getting in touch and raising questions and concerns they may not have thought of can be helpful in them attracting future talent. If an organisation seems to react negatively to this conversation, this could be a sign that it might not be a good fit for you.
To hear about some former and current Cambridge students’ stories, go to our blog and apply the ‘Graduate/Alumni’ stories filter. We are continuing to build this resource, including stories from diverse and underrepresented groups (and if you have a story of your own to share- we would love to hear it!).
The 'Black Career Journeys' playlist on our YouTube channel includes discussion about bringing your full self to work.
Target jobs have recordings of their Student Pride event where they talked to LGBTQ+ employees about their workplace experiences.
Many industries have mentoring schemes, networks or communities that enable employees from underrepresented or marginalised groups to connect and support one another. Please look at our career sector a-z for schemes that are specific to one industry. We have collected some here that work across a range of industry sectors.
Engineering:
- AFBE-UK (Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers)
- Equal Engineers
- InterEngineering LGBT
- Womens' Engineering Society
Comms:
Law:
- Aspiring Solicitors
- The Law Society Diversity Access Scheme
- Chambers diversity and inclusion
- Bridging The Bar
Creative industries:
Public Sector:
- The Civil Service has the Summer Diversity Internship Programme and Early Diversity Internship Programme for first year undergraduates
Third Sector:
Tech: