In this post Amatullah Blain, Inclusive Careers Project Officer, King’s Careers & Employability discussed the Inclusive Careers Education Ambassadors project.
The Inclusive Careers Education Ambassadors project was created in 2021 at King’s College London. Ten students were recruited in the Faculty of Natural Mathematical & Engineering Sciences (NMES) to be Inclusive Careers Education Ambassadors (ICEAs) where they were paid to co-create events, workshops and activities with the careers team. Another student was recruited to work as an Inclusive Careers Project Officer (ICPO) to support the ambassadors and management of the programme.
The aim of this programme was to enhance equality, diversity and inclusion within the careers provision for the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences (NMES) at King’s College London. The peer-to-peer approach was intended to create a more approachable and beneficial careers programme for students as the ambassadors brought a perspective and approach to careers education which was informed by their own experiences as students in the faculty.
My role
I was recruited to act as the Inclusive Careers Project Officer (ICPO) for the second year of the project (2022-2023). Before my role as an ICPO, my experience with careers education was limited to the guidance I received as a student at King’s College London. Although I am not a student in the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences (NMES), I have had experience and knowledge of the worries of planning and navigating your career as someone from an underrepresented background.
I found the challenges students from underrepresented backgrounds face are similar across different faculties and subject areas in higher education. I was able to channel my experiences and passion for social justice through making careers education more accessible to students through this role. As an ICPO, I was able to develop the skillset to support careers education for students while ensuring that social justice was a core element of my approach to careers education. In this process I also learnt a lot.
How the programme works
The Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences currently funds the main costs of the ICEA programme and it is run in collaboration with the King’s Careers & Employability team. The programme, managed by Careers Consultant Laura Oxley, was renewed in 2022 with extended hours for the ICEAs and ICPO and has since been renewed for 2023-2024.
The ICEA programme runs in six phases:
- March – April: Recruitment of ICPO and ICEAs
- June – July: Training ICPO and ICEAs
- August – September: Planning events, workshops and activities
- September: Finalising events and marketing
- October – December: Delivering the programme in the Autumn term
- January: Evaluation
Co-creation
The ICEA programme is co-created by the ambassadors: they decide what type of events, workshops and projects would be beneficial for their fellow students, making the programme different every year. The ambassadors’ own lived experiences of marginalisation inform the programme as well. This meant that in their interview workshops, for example, they were able to provide careers guidance which addressed the needs of students from underrepresented backgrounds.
There was a wide variety of workshops and events the ambassadors co-created and organized. They also supported the facilitation of events which the King’s Careers & Employability team runs annually. Additionally, the ambassadors and I created resources for students and recent graduates from the faculty which were accessible on the internal NMES Careers KEATS website (Moodle page – virtual learning environment).
A project which the ambassadors loved working on was the ‘See It to Be It’ project which was originally created in the School of Bioscience at King’s. The ambassadors interviewed King’s alumni from under-represented backgrounds who undertook degrees in the NMES faculty to provide students with insights into careers and employability and inspire them to pursue their career goals. This project not only has had a positive impact on students but the ambassadors themselves.
Impacts
The ICEA programme for 2022-2023 went well overall. The ambassadors co-created and delivered 11 events and workshops and co-facilitated 8 panel events which had a total of 659 attendees. The feedback for the ambassadors’ events was also positive, with 92% of students reporting that the events were ‘great’ and the other 8% ‘ok’.
We also ran a survey for students in the NMES Faculty about careers and the ICEA programme, for which we had 51 responses. We found that the majority of respondents felt that there are barriers people face when exploring careers and jobs and their qualitative feedback will be helpful in improving the programme for next year. One challenge we faced was around marketing. In the survey we asked students how to best market the programme and we have also been discussing marketing with faculty staff to improve this aspect of the programme for the next year.
Reflections
I feel that we have met the aims set for the programme this year. There have been challenges but thorough evaluation has allowed us to examine these challenges and come up with solutions to improve the ICEA programme. My experience as an Inclusive Careers Project Officer has been invaluable. I have grown a lot in the last year as a result of my experiences. Not only have I benefitted from the practical, careers experience I received in my role, but I have also acquired more knowledge about careers and the value of incorporating social justice in careers education from my colleagues and the ambassadors.
Overall, the ICEA programme has been great to work on. As a student, I can see how beneficial it is, and as someone who has worked on programme, I understand the challenges that come with it. My hope is that the information provided here will help anyone who would like to do, or is doing, something similar.
Career guidance for social justice 