Socially Mobile – championing equitable employment opportunities for everyone in public relations
On National Social Mobility Day, find out why Socially Mobile is diversifying the leadership demographic of the PR industry, one cohort at a time.
According to the PRCA, the public relations profession employs almost 100,000 people across the UK and contributes £16.7bn to the economy.
It’s an important job. Practitioners working across the public, private and third sectors help to shape policies and narratives, engage with stakeholders and communities, and support risk and resilience efforts to keep organisations and the UK economy sustainable.
However, there is a serious issue: today’s public relations practitioners do not reflect the organisations or society that they serve.
The CIPR’s State of the Profession Survey shows that a quarter of PR practitioners attended fee-paying schools, compared to seven per cent of the UK population.
Its 2024 PR Population Report, published in partnership with Chalkstream, reported that 87% of practitioners are of a white ethnic background, and they make up 90% of directors.
“Hiring in public relations is too often based on the professional norm of meeting assumptions about client expectations. It is holding back progress on diversity and inclusivity in the UK, because stereotypical assumptions of who ‘fits’ the right professional mould tends to favour candidates that match dominant identities (middle-class, white, cisgender [not transgender] and able-bodied). This makes it harder for diverse candidates to get hired at all levels of the profession, and particularly as they move up the professional hierarchy.”
In 2021, the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre reported that the UK creative industries were under-represented by 250,000 working class people. Extrapolating data using the PRCA Census, the public relations figure is likely to be more than 13,500.
In short, public relations is becoming a closed profession to those who are predominately white, wealthy and networked.
It’s time to change this. We launched Socially Mobile in 2021 to make a well-paid career in public relations accessible to everyone, regardless of background.
About Socially Mobile – the not-for-profit PR school equipping the workforce of today for the challenges of tomorrow
Socially Mobile is a fast-paced ten-week online executive education course that offers an unrivalled immersive and collaborative learning experience designed to move PR practitioners from a tactical to a strategic role and increase their earning potential. We run three cohorts a year.
Fully funded places are provided to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as under-represented and under-served groups, including Black and ethnic minority practitioners, the LGBTQ+ community, women returners, and those with disabilities.
“The UK workplace is not a level playing field. Just 10% of people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds make it into higher skilled, managerial or professional occupations. And across the UK, people from a lower socioeconomic background are 28% less likely to hold management roles.”
Students graduate with a Certificate in Leadership Communication and a powerful new network, giving employers access to true diversity of skills and thought.
The programme is accredited by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, the industry’s highest recognised standard for public relations and management training and development.
Paid and sponsored places are also available and contribute to keeping the Community Interest Company (CIC) sustainable. Basically, anyone signing up makes a difference to someone else’s life chances too.
“Social class intersects with other characteristics like gender and ethnicity and the barriers facing people who belong to multiple underrepresented groups are often higher. Focusing on socioeconomic background helps other diversity work.”
Our ask of you
Socially Mobile is making an absolute difference in the lives of practitioners who graduate from the programme, while addressing equality and representation within public relations practice.
Nine out of ten of our 100+ graduates report that the programme have positively impacted their career. This includes new and better jobs (28%) and promotion and salary increases (41%).
We’re grateful that the CIPR and PRCA offer fully funded alumni a free year’s membership on graduation, and that AMEC helps all our students to continue their learning by offering free access to its Foundation in Measurement and Evaluation.
However, we are currently reliant on sponsorship, paid places, and volunteers' goodwill to keep the CIC running.
Our ask is this: can YOU help us remain sustainable for the next two years?
How you can help
There are a number of ways in which you can support Socially Mobile:
Corporate sponsorship (£3k upwards per year)
Sponsorship of places for others (£750 per person)
Using Socially Mobile for your own team’s personal development (£750 per person)
Sharing our details and posts so we reach the people who deserve to benefit most
“Social diversity should be a key mission across the whole of British society to ensure we make use of the talents of people from all backgrounds. Enacting the ‘socio-economic duty’ clause of the Equality Act 2010 should form the centrepiece of this. Obligating public bodies to give due regard to how they can reduce the impact of socio-economic disadvantage would send a positive signal.”
We’re grateful for all those who help make Socially Mobility a reality and offer their time, expertise and energy to make it a success. We’re also always looking for more people to join our growing community. To find out more about our mission and to read our latest Impact Reports, please visit www.sociallymobile.org.uk.
If you’d like to set up a meeting with Socially Mobile’s founders and directors, Sarah and Stephen Waddington please email our programme manager beth.thomas@sociallymobile.org.uk. We’d love to hear from you.