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As L&D professionals, we’re sure you can agree that learning should be accessible to absolutely everyone -- regardless of their background.
From prohibitively-expensive, cliquey private schools, to increasingly exorbitant university fees and an ever-growing sense that “Members-Only” clubs are the norm, it’s beginning to feel like education is not a human right, but a luxury only afforded to the wealthy.
A side effect of this is that people from lower-income backgrounds are forced to see education as a path to a higher income, instead of “learning for learning’s sake.” This phenomenon was confirmed in a study facilitated by Netflix and National Youth Theatre, which found that 89% of working class respondents would not want their child to pursue a creative career. In the same research, 73% of creative professionals surveyed said that their parents view their career as a waste of education.
While this research was based solely on creative industries, it’s symptomatic of a larger issue. But someone’s background shouldn’t influence their access to education or ability to do a job, and we believe that L&D can be a part of levelling this playing field.
Read on to find out a few small ways L&D can help.
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The benefit of L&D, in terms of its ability to level the playing field, is that it allows learning to take place within the world of work. But those who benefit from a levelled playing field can’t take part in your carefully-planned L&D strategy if they don’t work at your company in the first place.
The first and most crucial step is to ensure that your organisation’s doors are open to everyone. That starts with inclusive hiring practices, and making sure that you are selecting from the widest possible applicant pool. If you don’t know where to start, there are some excellent outreach programmes that can help.
The next step after inclusive hiring is making sure that your learning culture – and the wider company culture – rewards diversity. We don’t mean simply ticking a box on a DEI agenda; we’re talking about creating an open and welcoming culture that actively encourages discussion, feedback and healthy debate.
Your learning materials should reflect this culture. Often, people from higher income backgrounds can assume that everyone has the same cultural touch-points as them, so make sure your learning doesn’t accidentally have this same blind spot. Avoid referencing expensive holidays, schools or high-end technology in any examples given within your learning materials.
Speaking of inclusive learning materials, another element of inclusivity is accessibility. This levels the playing field for everyone, no matter their background, abilities, or access needs. If you want to read more about how to create accessible learning, we have a guide in a previous blog -- but it’s not just about the learning materials themselves; it’s also about the flexibility surrounding them.
Flexible learning -- e.g. delivering learning in multiple formats, across multiple devices, and with the ability to undertake it in the learner’s own time -- is an essential way to make employees from all backgrounds feel included. You never know what someone may be going through outside of work; they could be juggling multiple jobs or family responsibilities, and flexible learning allows them to work around that.
Not only is flexibility key to making the learner feel valued, it also positively impacts learning outcomes. This study by Mehmet Kokoç found that perceived flexibility of time and content positively impacted both engagement and performance – and although this was conducted in an academic context, it can also be applied to workplace learning.
‍
Soft skills: We talk a lot about them in L&D, and with good reason. Last year, The World Economic Forum released a report that detailed the top ten skills of the year, as well as the top ten on the rise – and unsurprisingly, several soft skills like analytical thinking, self-awareness and leadership cropped up repeatedly on both lists.
Despite how important and useful they are, nobody is born with a rulebook of how to develop soft skills. (Although we did happen to write a blog about exactly that...) That’s why it’s so important to understand the disparity that class can cause when it comes to these skills, and not take it for granted that everyone in your workforce is equipped with them.
Generational wealth is an invisible, warm jacket that people tend not to realise they’re wearing. Having been born into a fortunate situation, equipped with skills passed down from wealthy parents, and afforded expensive education, the privileged wonder why everyone else is saying they’re cold.
If some employees are not fortunate enough to have parents and relatives who taught them the soft skills that help them get by in the workplace, it becomes the workplace’s responsibility to do so. Don’t take soft skills as a given, and offer soft skill training to absolutely everyone in the workplace.
‍
If you know anything about Thrive, you won’t be at all surprised to hear us recommend personalisation in this blog. We pride ourselves on the fact that our all-in-one LMS is personalised for each individual learner, and this should be a key tenet of inclusive learning.
If your learning platform is set up to facilitate it, offer personalised learning journeys that meet the learners’ individual needs, goals and abilities. You can take this a step further by using your platform’s communication features to connect employees with mentors that can provide guidance and support they might not have previously had.
Lastly, by providing upskilling opportunities to your employees, you open the door to career advancement and higher-paid roles within the organisation.
‍
Hierarchical bias is absolutely everywhere, whether we like it or not. We’re born into an unbalanced world, and from a young age we’re unconsciously taught that factors beyond our control – like income, race or gender – affect the extent to which we deserve certain rights and privileges.
This then carries over to the workplace. Hierarchical bias affects who gets hired for leadership roles, leaving others overlooked. You can help bridge this gap by ensuring that absolutely everyone in your organisation has access to leadership and executive level training programmes.
‍
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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As L&D professionals, we’re sure you can agree that learning should be accessible to absolutely everyone -- regardless of their background.
From prohibitively-expensive, cliquey private schools, to increasingly exorbitant university fees and an ever-growing sense that “Members-Only” clubs are the norm, it’s beginning to feel like education is not a human right, but a luxury only afforded to the wealthy.
A side effect of this is that people from lower-income backgrounds are forced to see education as a path to a higher income, instead of “learning for learning’s sake.” This phenomenon was confirmed in a study facilitated by Netflix and National Youth Theatre, which found that 89% of working class respondents would not want their child to pursue a creative career. In the same research, 73% of creative professionals surveyed said that their parents view their career as a waste of education.
While this research was based solely on creative industries, it’s symptomatic of a larger issue. But someone’s background shouldn’t influence their access to education or ability to do a job, and we believe that L&D can be a part of levelling this playing field.
Read on to find out a few small ways L&D can help.
‍
‍
The benefit of L&D, in terms of its ability to level the playing field, is that it allows learning to take place within the world of work. But those who benefit from a levelled playing field can’t take part in your carefully-planned L&D strategy if they don’t work at your company in the first place.
The first and most crucial step is to ensure that your organisation’s doors are open to everyone. That starts with inclusive hiring practices, and making sure that you are selecting from the widest possible applicant pool. If you don’t know where to start, there are some excellent outreach programmes that can help.
The next step after inclusive hiring is making sure that your learning culture – and the wider company culture – rewards diversity. We don’t mean simply ticking a box on a DEI agenda; we’re talking about creating an open and welcoming culture that actively encourages discussion, feedback and healthy debate.
Your learning materials should reflect this culture. Often, people from higher income backgrounds can assume that everyone has the same cultural touch-points as them, so make sure your learning doesn’t accidentally have this same blind spot. Avoid referencing expensive holidays, schools or high-end technology in any examples given within your learning materials.
Speaking of inclusive learning materials, another element of inclusivity is accessibility. This levels the playing field for everyone, no matter their background, abilities, or access needs. If you want to read more about how to create accessible learning, we have a guide in a previous blog -- but it’s not just about the learning materials themselves; it’s also about the flexibility surrounding them.
Flexible learning -- e.g. delivering learning in multiple formats, across multiple devices, and with the ability to undertake it in the learner’s own time -- is an essential way to make employees from all backgrounds feel included. You never know what someone may be going through outside of work; they could be juggling multiple jobs or family responsibilities, and flexible learning allows them to work around that.
Not only is flexibility key to making the learner feel valued, it also positively impacts learning outcomes. This study by Mehmet Kokoç found that perceived flexibility of time and content positively impacted both engagement and performance – and although this was conducted in an academic context, it can also be applied to workplace learning.
‍
Soft skills: We talk a lot about them in L&D, and with good reason. Last year, The World Economic Forum released a report that detailed the top ten skills of the year, as well as the top ten on the rise – and unsurprisingly, several soft skills like analytical thinking, self-awareness and leadership cropped up repeatedly on both lists.
Despite how important and useful they are, nobody is born with a rulebook of how to develop soft skills. (Although we did happen to write a blog about exactly that...) That’s why it’s so important to understand the disparity that class can cause when it comes to these skills, and not take it for granted that everyone in your workforce is equipped with them.
Generational wealth is an invisible, warm jacket that people tend not to realise they’re wearing. Having been born into a fortunate situation, equipped with skills passed down from wealthy parents, and afforded expensive education, the privileged wonder why everyone else is saying they’re cold.
If some employees are not fortunate enough to have parents and relatives who taught them the soft skills that help them get by in the workplace, it becomes the workplace’s responsibility to do so. Don’t take soft skills as a given, and offer soft skill training to absolutely everyone in the workplace.
‍
If you know anything about Thrive, you won’t be at all surprised to hear us recommend personalisation in this blog. We pride ourselves on the fact that our all-in-one LMS is personalised for each individual learner, and this should be a key tenet of inclusive learning.
If your learning platform is set up to facilitate it, offer personalised learning journeys that meet the learners’ individual needs, goals and abilities. You can take this a step further by using your platform’s communication features to connect employees with mentors that can provide guidance and support they might not have previously had.
Lastly, by providing upskilling opportunities to your employees, you open the door to career advancement and higher-paid roles within the organisation.
‍
Hierarchical bias is absolutely everywhere, whether we like it or not. We’re born into an unbalanced world, and from a young age we’re unconsciously taught that factors beyond our control – like income, race or gender – affect the extent to which we deserve certain rights and privileges.
This then carries over to the workplace. Hierarchical bias affects who gets hired for leadership roles, leaving others overlooked. You can help bridge this gap by ensuring that absolutely everyone in your organisation has access to leadership and executive level training programmes.
‍
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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