What is your social mobility project? Please provide an overview:
CGI Young Dreamers supports social mobility by broadening the future career prospects of students from underserved backgrounds. It provides them with opportunities to enhance their skills, broaden their networks and gain confidence. It offers students industry insight, introducing them to professionals from a range of organisations and giving them a taste of how these professionals use STEM to solve real-life business problems.
Multiple research studies show a growing disengagement of young people with STEM subjects in school, and consequently a decreasing interest in STEM careers. CGI Young Dreamers aims to inspire young people and show the breadth of activities that could translate into STEM careers.
Working in partnership with Central Government organisations and clients, we launched our CGI Young Dreamers’ programme in 2022. It is a fun and inspiring competition for secondary school students which supports social mobility by encouraging them into careers in STEM.
How it works
We define four “client briefs” for the students to work on, in groups of four to six, these are based on real-life business problems faced by the organisations involved. Each brief focusses on either Science, Technology, Maths or Engineering. Recent briefs include: designing a wellbeing space for NCA employees (Engineering) and using technology to replace old systems and support rehabilitation within prisons (Technology).
Schools are recommended to us by local partners such as the Local Enterprise Advisors Network (LEAN) or local Police. We target schools in underrepresented areas that do not already have relationships with employers and that would benefit from the initiative.
The initiative is split into three stages: innovation days; mentoring and the final event. The program is launched individually in each participating school at an Innovation Day where our team presents the briefs to the students, their groups are formed, and they start working on their projects. Then, with a little coaching during the day, the top teams from each school are selected to attend a finals event.
In between the innovation and finals days, the students are mentored by CGI professionals as they develop their projects. This touchpoint allows the students to show us how they have incorporated feedback from the innovation day. This also allows us to give further guidance on both soft and hard skills to improve their overall pitch.
The finals events are held in prestigious venues such as Lords Cricket Ground and Aston Villa football stadium. The students display their projects in a science fair and take part in several STEM activities. The highlight of the day is the students’ final presentation to a panel of CGI and Central Government
experts who select the winner for each category. Projects are evaluated on teamwork, creativity, research, and presentation skills – all key skills across STEM.
How did your project come to fruition?
The programme builds on CGI’s wide experience in delivering successful STEM events for underserved students. Our aim was to encourage the talent of the future; to hear the students’ voices and to give them a platform to share their ideas. As the tech industry plays a significant role in shaping the future, it is essential that its opportunities are accessible to all, regardless of socio-economic status or background.
Our objectives were to build long term partnerships with the schools, mentoring relationships with the students and to empower the students to have confidence in their ideas. It is imperative that there is a broader range of talents and perspectives in the future tech talent pool. This will contribute to a more diverse and inclusive tech workforce to drive innovation, creativity, and problem-solving. Ultimately this will lead to the development of more inclusive and impactful technologies that cater to a wider range of users. Our initiative aims to encourage students to explore the talents that they already have and show them that they match what employers are looking for.
The initiative is aimed at students in years 8 and 9 who are considering what GCSE options to take. The programme aims to inspire students towards STEM focussed options by showing them how STEM can be applied in real-life situations and what it is like to work for a consultancy.
We are very proud of the programme and inspiration that it has given to over 1400 students and counting.
How has your project provided opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds?
“A young person who has four or more meaningful encounters with an employer is 86% less likely to be unemployed or not in education or training and can earn up to 22% more during their career.” Source: Motivated to achieve: How encounters with the world of work can change attitudes and improve academic achievement – Education and Employers.
For this reason, we chose schools serving underrepresented communities that have high rates of pupil premiums. We targeted schools which had been identified by our partners as being able to benefit the most from interactions with an employer. The initiative provided students with several valuable interactions with a number of different employers giving students an insight into the world of work. This unique opportunity allowed students to practice their skills, develop their confidence and raise aspirations.
The CGI Young Dreamers’ initiative gave students the chance to develop skills such as research, presenting and teamwork. Through developing their presentations, and interaction with the judges and CGI mentors, the students learned more about careers in STEM and how STEM can be used for good. Their confidence was also boosted by being pushed out of their comfort zone and challenged to operate in a completely unfamiliar environment. The nature of the competition, with the focus on presentation and creativity, meant that students with less academic skillsets also had the chance to excel.
To ensure that our initiative was as inclusive as possible and to avoid any bias, we ran the innovation days with entire year groups and picked the teams purely based on how they performed on the day. The schools told us that this meant that we did not just choose “the usual suspects” who often get selected for extra-curricular opportunities but chose students who sometimes get overlooked.
The pilot event was held in London and based on its success, we have now expanded CGI Young Dreamers to three locations throughout the UK, with a second London event, an event in the West Midlands, and an event planned for Newcastle.
What impact has your project had on your target audience?
Our journey so far has involved over 1400 students at the innovation days. Further mentoring has been provided to 160 students who then went on to the finals events. Throughout the process, students networked with over 100 volunteers. This showed them a diverse range of backgrounds, careers, and experiences, providing them with visible role models – “You can’t be what you can’t see”.
The CGI Young Dreamers’ initiative has had a positive impact on the students involved. Students enjoyed the whole process and one of our favourite quotes from feedback is that they had “learned to speak more proudly”. In feedback, students cited a range of skills where they felt they had progressed, including teamwork, communication, listening and presentations. Feedback from the schools was overwhelmingly positive and demonstrated that we delivered on our objectives.
“Students interest in STEM careers have certainly increased.” – Eden Girls School.
The schools have told us that because of the inclusive selection process, typically excluded groups such as SEN (Special Educational Needs) students and students who were on report were successful in reaching the final based their ability. Through this opportunity students have learnt that a wide range of skills are valued by employers and academics are not the only marker for success. We are particularly proud of how this programme has supported raising aspirations for this demographic of students.
“We would like to mention that a couple of our students suffer with anxiety and would not normally speak in front of people, but through your events they have now answered questions in front a crowd and participated in presentations in front of a group of strangers. A few weeks ago they would not have done this. So, a big thank you for giving them the opportunity to grow.” – KESH Academy
The schools involved have also benefited from the relationships we have built. We have been back for careers events and awards days. The schools used the prize money (£500 per school) to support the students with further STEM events, including medical workshops.
“Our students found the project very interesting, and it has had a significant impact on improving their confidence, determination and most of all teamwork skills. It also helped students to develop important STEM and wider employability skills that are needed in every job and introduced students to the variety of careers that might be open to them. CGI Young Dreamers is highly deserving of an award for its life-changing, innovative approach to promoting STEM careers, which fosters creativity and innovation in young people, and helps build a more diverse and inclusive workforce for the future.” – Salise Hassan, Assistant Head at Oaks Park High School
How will receiving this award benefit your project?
The publicity from receiving the award would encourage more of our clients to get involved in the event, which in turn would increase its impact. This award would strengthen the business case for continuing and expanding the programme across the UK.
The award would highlight the positive impact CGI Young Dreamers has had on students and encourage more employers to put on similar events. It would also encourage more employers to become enterprise advisors with Local London and their partners across the UK.
Please provide an endorsing statement from someone who can support this nomination (Max. 500 words)
Yim Wan Stezycki, Enterprise Coordinator at London Enterprise Advisor Network, Local London Careers Hub East I am delighted to endorse the CGI Young Dreamers nomination for an Inclusive Award. This enterprise challenge promotes inclusivity in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and teaches valuable skills to Key Stage 3 pupils, including teamwork, presentation skills, problem-solving and innovation. Students are presented with real-world challenges and asked to design innovative solutions. In doing so they are encouraged to explore STEM subjects and connect current learning with future careers.
The Local London Careers Hub East builds strong working relationships with education and local and national businesses, with the principle aim of inspiring young people to see the breadth of career opportunities available to them. There is a strong focus on inclusivity, and CGI Young Dreamers complements this work and recognises the importance of encouraging young talent, ensuring that every young person has access to opportunities in STEM regardless of their background or circumstances.
Three schools from the London Borough of Redbridge participated in the initiative. Redbridge is a highly diverse community and Local London has a particular focus on helping those from disadvantaged areas reach their full potential and the recognition of the need to introduce pupils to a wider range of STEM careers, in response to skills shortages, both locally and nationally.
Now in its second year, CGI Young Dreamers aligns with the inclusive priorities of the Hub, and aims to bridge the gender, racial, and socioeconomic gaps that exist in the STEM industry. The initiative has helped to raise awareness, amongst pupils and teachers, of the wide range of careers in STEM, and the various pathways into them.
Feedback from pupils, teachers and employers has been overwhelmingly positive. There has been a strong positive impact on pupils, and teachers report an increased interest in STEM subjects and careers, which is often not a viable option for the young person. Pupils have indicated that taking part in the challenge and interacting with professionals, particularly in the mentoring phase, has awakened a new interest in STEM and empowered them to make informed option choices, at Key Stage 4, with a view to pursuing a future career in STEM.
Sarah Murray, Director of Local London praised the initiative saying: “The students showed impressive creative and collaborative skills in every challenge. I am extremely impressed with how committed CGI are to living their values and engaging with young people in our boroughs.
STEM subjects and careers are for anyone who is interested. As well as helping students learn about and see themselves in different STEM-related careers, we’ve gained an insight into the brilliant minds who will be joining the workforce in the future. This has been an excellent initiative
