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QMUL Careers and Enterprise Statement of Intent, Religion and Inclusivity

Careers events can be powerful moments, providing a space for our students to be inspired and emboldened via storytelling and the sharing of advice, through those further along their career pathways.

Queen Mary Careers and Enterprise are committed to open the doors of opportunity to all our students, by ensuring our careers events are spaces of representation, inclusivity and a celebration of difference. To put this in context:

• 92% of Queen Mary students are from state schools
• 50% are of Asian ethnicity
• 10% are of Black Heritage
• 49% are the first in their family to go into higher education and
• 6% of students declaring a disability.

Our careers events should represent the lived experiences of our student population as much as possible. Research shows that we tend to respond well to those who are similar to us in some way (in terms of ethnicity, personality traits, background, gender etc.)  You cannot be what you cannot see.

We also recognise that there are specific student cohorts at Queen Mary who find it harder to find work.  Bangladeshi graduates (particularly women) and students on bursaries related to household income are the least likely to secure graduate-level work. The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services found that nationally graduates with social conditions/autism were least likely to have obtained full-time work compared to those without a disability. While ‘graduate outcome’ datasets are by no means comprehensive measures of what makes a satisfying career for our graduates, they do point to serious inequalities in the labour market. We commit to trying to better understand the barriers faced by these groups and to have open, honest and transparent conversations with our employer partners.

We will commit to:

1. Ensuring diversity of representation at careers events
   1. Collecting diversity monitoring data from employers attending careers events*
   2. Working across the wider institution and in particular, to ensure alumni representation
2. Raising, discussing, and collaborating with employers around issues of social justice and the environment
   1. Collecting diversity monitoring data from representatives at careers events*
   2. Employers to demonstrate evidence around external commitments to CSR and EDI initiatives
   3. Highlighting issues and progress via event marketing materials and questions during applicable events

Pledge on Religion and Inclusivity

s one of the most diverse universities in the UK with our students drawn from over 170 nationalities,  and 72% of our domestic undergraduate students coming from Black and Minority Ethnic heritage, fostering environments of inclusion and representation is a priority.  We recognise the importance of creating inclusive learning environments that respect and celebrate the diverse backgrounds of our students, and we would therefore like to share some recommendations from rare recruitment in their June 2024 report on ‘The Experience of British Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in City Law’. Whilst this report relates to Law, we believe the principles can be taken and applied to all sectors. To this end, we would like to strongly encourage our employer partners to consider the recommendations made in this report in order to create an inclusive and fair environment for students of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage, as well as other minority communities.

In 2024, QMUL C&E commissioned its own research into the experiences of Bangladeshi students and are pleased to report this produced many of the same recommendations. We are therefore committed to ensuring an inclusive and fair environment for our students.

NB

*Special category data is collected for monitoring purposes. It is optional to provide this information and is given with the consent of the representative. Please see the Special Category Data statement for more information.