{"id":134936,"date":"2021-03-29T10:43:39","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T09:43:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=134936"},"modified":"2021-03-30T08:53:28","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T07:53:28","slug":"5-ways-to-improve-social-mobility-in-pr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/5-ways-to-improve-social-mobility-in-pr\/","title":{"rendered":"5 ways to improve social mobility in PR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>There\u2019s no denying that the PR industry has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/pr-is-not-diverse-enough-results-from-ciprs-state-of-the-profession-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an inclusivity problem<\/a>. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/accessmatters-with-the-social-mobility-foundations-sarah-atkinson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">latest accessmatter session<\/a> focused on sociality mobility, with Sarah Atkinson from The Social Mobility Foundation explaining her work and how we can all do more to better our own industry when it comes to class. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re someone who has come from the London-born, university-educated, middle-class-and-up background that makes up the biggest portion of the PR workforce and leadership level, or you\u2019re from, well, anywhere else, here is some of Sarah\u2019s advice for making a long-term career in PR a possibility for everyone.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NP7Ke-e7xMQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">1) Learn the terms and start asking questions<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\nLow-income, disadvantaged, underrepresented, working class \u2013 if this isn\u2019t your background, you might not be sure of the right words to use when having conversations around social, economic and class difference. If you\u2019re from this background, you might not feel comfortable using these words as descriptors for yourself in a work environment.<\/p>\n<p>But finding the words are important: \u2018Use the right phrasing. \u2018Low income\u2019 is good, but it doesn\u2019t cover everything,\u2019 says Sarah. \u2018Ask questions &#8211; in your family and in your network, did people go to university? Can people help you into industries?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We are working with very disadvantaged young people as part of our programmes at The Social Mobility Foundation. I do talk about \u2018disadvantage\u2019, and they\u2019re comfortable with that. When I\u2019m talking more broadly, I talk about class \u2013 I talk about \u201cordinary\u201d people, actually. I\u2019m talking about the general population with that; most of us.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Don\u2019t worry about the language if it\u2019s silencing you, though. Acknowledge social and cultural issues. Approach it with honesty and people will notice the intent and have faith in it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">2) Ask if the recruitment process at your organisation is fair <\/span><\/strong><br \/>\nWhatever level of the hierarchy you\u2019re at, looking at or remembering your own recruitment process can help others coming through.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When it comes to recruitment, we ask employers at the start to analysis their recruitment process,\u2019 says Sarah. \u2018That\u2019s critical in every organisation \u2013 if you\u2019re automatically asking for degrees for jobs they\u2019re not needed for, or if your process is one where people from low social economic backgrounds are being filtered out, that\u2019s undermining any other efforts to be inclusive.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">3) Recognise that not everyone will be comfortable with working from home <\/span><\/strong><br \/>\nIs the \u2018new normal\u2019 of working from home with no commute comfortable for you? It might not be the same for everyone you\u2019re working with.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If we\u2019re all in our home environment, and some are in nicer, or more comfortable situations, the levelling can be very false. Remembering that a virtual set up means everyone is more reliant on their domestic circumstances is really important,\u2019 advises Sarah.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If we assume there\u2019s equity in that, we\u2019ll build in that inequity we\u2019ve inherited. We need to assess any plan for the future and ensure that we\u2019re understanding everyone\u2019s set up and their needs. Make sure the plan is mindful and offer support.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">4) Be an advocate <\/span><\/strong><br \/>\nWhether you\u2019re working from a position of privilege and want to help others who don\u2019t, or you want to help others from your similar backgrounds and circumstances to yours into the industry with you, you may be asking yourself, \u2018What can I do as an individual to make a difference?\u2019 Sarah says: advocate for others and yourself.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Look out for job descriptions that have \u2018graduate preferred\u2019 when it\u2019s nonsense. Stand up and say it\u2019s not acceptable when someone\u2019s accent is mocked. Spot those things where not having enough money, or understanding of the culture, can make a difference \u2013 be an advocate.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Everyone, at every level, can be a mentor. It can be light-touch \u2013 taking someone under your wing, helping them with how to dress right for an interview. Or it can be something more structured like a mentoring scheme.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You don\u2019t just need a mentor to get into a business. Making sure that networks are there for people from a low income background, that they\u2019re supported and brought into a room \u2013 this is the thing that makes a difference.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">5) Be an ally<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\nIs \u2018banter\u2019 regarding class\/accent\/pools of reference acceptable? Not always, not often.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018In lots of environments, mild mockery may be intended as harmless \u2018banter\u2019, but the first thing to do is to stand up, to say \u201cThat\u2019s not cool, that\u2019s not what we do here\u201d,\u2019 says Sarah.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018This is about a broader culture that the senior sets and reflects. The culture is rarely bound to one behaviour. I would assume that there is good intent and bad execution until you know different. Speak separately to the person taking the wrong approach, and also say to the person it happened to: \u201cI don\u2019t think that was okay\u201d. You do two things with that; you may get a change\u2026 you may not, but you give the opportunity for people to get it right. And you\u2019re being an ally to the person on the receiving end \u2013 it\u2019s really important to show ppl that there is some recognition.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If the senior person wants to engage or learn, that\u2019s a great opportunity to talk about social mobility\u2026 if they say \u2018you\u2019re a humourless fun sponge\u2019 then it\u2019s a signal of what you\u2019re up against.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Wherever you came from and wherever your ambition will take you in your career and in your life, being aware of what\u2019s not fair will help to shape the PR industry for the better:<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Once you start actively noticing issues around social mobility, you\u2019ll notice how the world is shaped to benefit people who are more privileged. You\u2019ll clock it,\u2019 says Sarah.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When you\u2019re alert, then you can start to have the conversations that help others to notice, too.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read the round-up of our accessmatters session with Sarah Atkinson from The Social Mobility Foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/accessmatters-with-the-social-mobility-foundations-sarah-atkinson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s no denying that the PR industry has an inclusivity problem. Our latest accessmatter session focused on sociality mobility, with Sarah Atkinson from The Social Mobility Foundation explaining her work and how we can all &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":134940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7365,7272,3725,7238],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134936"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134955,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134936\/revisions\/134955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}