Project title: Access to high Profile Jobs: Closing the Gap
Funding awarded: £95,306
Summary:
The project establishes an Engineering Sciences Learning Centre and Employability Programme co-designed and co-run with students that will reinforce their academic and professional confidence in pursuing high profile engineering career.
What need does the project address?
The central premise of this project is directly informed by De Montfort University ’s Access Participation Plan (APP) which identified access to highly paid jobs as the number one priority. Over half of students from the School of Engineering and Sustainable Development identify as Black, Asian and minority ethnic. However, students from these groups are underrepresented in high profile employment. These students come from a diverse range of backgrounds and qualifications and often struggle with their performance which affects their confidence. This is also amplified by the fact that a third of these students come from disadvantaged backgrounds and almost half of them are the first generation studying for a university degree.
What does the project consist of?
The student-oriented Engineering Science Learning Centre (ESLC) and Employability Programme provide structure and context for a range of activities that will help to close the existing as well as perceived academic and transferable skills gap between the students from minoritised groups and their peers. ESLC will provide more structured support outside of the core teaching hours. The centre will boost students’ confidence, preparing them for the future employment and teaching them relevant soft and transferable skills via the Employability Programme in cooperation with the industrial partners.
What are the expected outcomes?
Student outcomes include:
- Increased appreciation of personal strengths
- Ability to identify personal weakness and overcome them
- Increased self-esteem and confidence
- Improved communication, time management skills
- Improved academic and overall performance
Institutional outcomes include:
- Furthering of university’s ‘Empowering University’ strategy
- Embedded championing of diversity principles across institution
- Increased confidence in challenging status quo