Socially Mobile reports on graduate career progression

25% of graduates report promotion or new job opportunity and 75% report a positive impact on their career.

“Development programmes for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds in early and mid careers are all too rare - but they can make a big difference, for the cohort they support and more widely. Hats off to Socially Mobile and here's to the model being much imitated!”

Sarah Atkinson, CEO, The Social Mobility Foundation.

Socially Mobile has published its first Impact Report. In 2022 it supported 47 public relations practitioners from diverse backgrounds in developing their management skills via a ten week executive education course. 46 students successfully graduated from the course.

• A quarter of graduates have been promoted or have had a new job opportunity since graduating from the programme

• Three quarters of graduates report a positive impact on their career

• Three in five graduates say that the programme has had an immediate impact on their work in terms of confidence, a contemporary understanding of public relations practice, and development of management knowledge

The Socially Mobile Community Interest Company was founded in 2020 by myself and Sarah Waddington CBE. Its aim is to deliver management training to public relations practitioners from lower socio-economic backgrounds and under-represented and under-served groups including ethnic minority practitioners, the LGBTQ+ community, women returners and those with disabilities.

All Socially Mobile students with fully funded places, who successfully graduate, receive CIPR and PRCA membership for a year to support their continued development. Every student who graduates receives a place on the AMEC Foundation in Media Measurement and Evaluation Course.

The UK public relations industry contributed £16.7 billion to the UK economy in 2021. It employs 99,900 people according to the PRCA Census 2021. The PRCA reported that a fifth of respondents attended an independent or fee-paying school versus seven percent of the population. This represents a diversity gap of practitioners from a lower socio-economic background of almost 13,000.

Socially Mobile has sufficient reserves to cover its operational costs for 2023 but will shortly kick-off a fundraising drive for 2024.

We're hosting a webinar about the outcomes from Socially Mobile in 2022 and what's next from 1-2pm on 31 March. You'd be welcome to join us. Please register for a ticket via Eventbrite.

For further information about Socially Mobile or to apply for a place on an upcoming programme please visit the website or contact Beth Thomas.