Finance careers – if this phrase conjures up images of rich well-connected men, you’re not alone! The financial sector can suffer a bit of an image problem among young people - many believe it’s only for ‘a certain type’ of person, or someone who went to the ‘right’ school or university.
Alan Milburn’s 2009 report ‘Social Mobility and the Professions’ found that over 70% of finance directors in the UK were privately educated. This is the kind of thing that the industry is keen to address in order to reflect the needs of a modern, diverse society.
That’s why CareerPlayer’s latest mini-documentary, Access to Finance, aims to show talented young people from diverse backgrounds that there’s a place for them in the financial sector. In fact, there’s a long history of notable people in the financial sector that didn’t have a traditional background:
- In 1902, Maggie L. Walker became the first black women to found a bank in America – and she continued to run it despite becoming disabled in later life.
- In 1958, Mary Roebling became the first female governor of the American Stock Exchange.
- Richard Branson has dyslexia and never went to university, yet he went on to found Virgin Money.
- Finance professionals today come from all kinds of different backgrounds, from school leavers to PhD holders. There really is a route into a rewarding career in finance for everyone who has the drive and determination to get there.
The film explores the wide variety of routes into the financial sector from traditional degrees to innovative apprenticeships. We’ve teamed up with HSBC, the Chartered Insurance Institute, the ACCA and the Financial Skills Partnership to help spread the word among employers, schools, pupils and careers advisors.
You can watch the film here: http://budurl.com/2CareersInFinance
We’d love your help to spread the word among schools and young people – so please share the film on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else you can think of, and get the message out there that finance has something for everyone.
