"For research funding [equity] presents a [...] challenge. Decisions about who gets to apply, how opportunities are allocated & what counts as fair process are [...] shaped by scarcity, complexity & institutional caution. […] working collectively can help build a little more bravery into the system"

Wonkhe@wonkhe.bsky.social · 2d ago

NEW on Wonkhe: In contested and cautious times, cross-sector working is needed to push EDI work forward. Rachel Van Krimpen explains what this looks like in the context of research funding buff.ly/VI6HL3c

Lots of journalists are talking about the guillotine t-shirt as a 'Green Party problem': this is the wrong framing. It's a 'populist left problem' ('slopulist left', if I were being ungenerous). What's happened is the populist left has adopted the Greens as their chosen vehicle. 1/🧵

This week's Economist shows that England is not the only country facing up to the (very expensive) reality that it seems to have too many university graduates for the available graduate jobs. Which might explain why, in a recent US poll, almost two-third of adults say a degree isn’t worth the cost.

Are you a.... 👉campaigner 👉charity professional 👉community organise 👉or simply someone who wants to help create positive change? Join the community. Be part of the conversation. 📬 Sign up to the SMK newsletter: https://smk.org.uk/mailing-list/ #Campaigning #SocialChangeNews #SocialChange

🔎 Andy Burnham's cabinet is the most Oxbridge-educated cabinet since David Cameron's cabinet in 2010. The new Prime Minister recently appointed his cabinet. We found that over half (54%) of ministers appointed went to Oxford or Cambridge for university.

India’s Gen Z revolt - which today forced the education minister’s resignation - is in reaction to the same delusional approach to #SocialMobility we see here: If the number of good jobs doesn’t increase, no amount of education will increase the number of people who get them.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 2w ago

India’s ‘Cockroach’ Gen Z has had enough ft.trib.al/DBuk35f | opinion

Those of us who aren’t from London & the South East are a majority of the UK population. So why do we often feel like a minority in ‘national’ organisations? (New research) www.linkedin.com/posts/duncan... #Charities

#charities | Duncan Exley

Those of us who aren’t from London & the South East are a majority of the UK population. So why do we often feel like a minority in ‘national’ organisations? (New research) A recent report by The Sut...

linkedin.com

🚨 THE NEW CABINET 🚨 Andy Burnham is the new Prime Minister, and he's finalised his cabinet. This new cabinet is less representative than Keir Starmer's first cabinet, which was the most representative – in terms of education backgrounds – ever recorded. Our analysis 🧵👇

New initiative to tackle underrepresentation of working-class people in adverts (who're also “heavily depicted through the lens of their jobs”) & "create more accurately representative campaigns… reflecting the intersectional diversity of working-class communities” www.channel4.com/press/news/c...

Our incoming Prime Minister has a greater knowledge of English literature than his predecessor: Would Starmer have been able to name any of the key locations in Macbeth? Burnham would.

💥Two opportunities to join this small but mighty team 💥 📱Digital Marketing Manager (Part-time, 4 days/week) £35,000–£37,000 FTE (£28,000–£29,600 pro rata) ⚙️Operations and Systems Manager £34,000 ⏰ Part-time (18 hours per week, term-time only) 👉https://smk.org.uk/get-involved/join-our-team/

Charities, accused of being an out-of-touch elite, scale back efforts to become more representative of the public... www.linkedin.com/posts/duncan... #charities

#charities | Duncan Exley

Charities, accused of being an out-of-touch elite, scale back efforts to become more representative of the public... When charities’ personnel & cultures are unrepresentative of the public, it provid...

linkedin.com

"Attacks on the charity’s cause area have meant increased caution from donors": An example of reckless caution? attempts to appease an unappeasable aggressor? www.linkedin.com/posts/duncan... #Charities #Philanthropy

#charities #philanthropy | Duncan Exley

"Attacks on the charity’s cause area have meant increased caution from donors": an example of reckless caution? attempts to appease an unappeasable aggressor? There's a lot of examples currently of f...

linkedin.com

Something unscripted is happening on the A503

Is welfare spending ''out of control''? It's estimated to be 11.1 per cent of GDP this financial year. That's just 1.1 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen by 0.9 per cent of GDP since 2012-13 ⤵️

Low pay versus “a charity sector where lived experience is valued, & where young people from all backgrounds can enter, and stay, in the sector” www.linkedin.com/posts/duncan... #charities #philanthropy

Increased number of charity roles paid below real living wage, analysis finds | Duncan Exley

Low pay versus “a charity sector where lived experience is valued, & where young people from all backgrounds can enter, and stay, in the sector”… New research shows that “An increased proportion of r...

linkedin.com

"Higher education does not need to persuade white working class families to want more for their children. They already do. The task now is harder, & more important: to prove that higher education can help them build the secure, dignified & meaningful futures they already want" @amcanning.bsky.social

Wonkhe@wonkhe.bsky.social · last mo.

NEW on Wonkhe: The independent inquiry into white working class educational outcomes found a lack of trust in higher education, not in aspiration. Anne-Marie Canning explains buff.ly/ufILsy8

The Resolution Foundation is hiring! We are looking for an exceptional individual with a passion for improving living standards and the skills to lead a world-class research and policy organisation, to become a Director. Application pack available here ⤵️ buff.ly/xcFddMf

AI is a bloke in the pub who, when you're talking to your mate about who'll win the premiership next season, sits unbidden at your table & says 'based on having read Reddit, I can overconfidently say it will be Arsenal again", then drinks your pint dry...

Katherine Stiles@katherinestiles.org · last mo.

· #AcademicSky · #AI · AI is an energy and water hog, here’s what you can do to counter that “Artificial intelligence and the data centers they require use growing amounts of energy and are water hogs—and AI companies aren't transparent about how much of those resources they use, experts said.”

“a new, accessible pathway to careers in policy research [open to] those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds” SHORT DEADLINE £30,000 salary & structured training programme. "No prior experience is required...and we particularly encourage candidates who are looking for structured support"

Social Market Foundation@smfthinktank.bsky.social · last mo.

📢 NEW ENTY-LEVEL OPPORTUNITY 📢 This is a genuinely entry-level opportunity to work in the think tank sector, for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We're proud to be part of this year's Policy Futures Programme, recruiting a Trainee Researcher. Apply ⬇️ www.smf.co.uk/new-opportun...

Charities feel pressure to present themselves as ‘good work done on a shoestring’ but low pay in the sector is corroding our impact…. www.linkedin.com/posts/duncan... #Charities

#charities #campaigning | Duncan Exley

Charities feel pressure to present themselves as ‘good work done on a shoestring’ but low pay in the sector is corroding our impact…. A new report by PBE highlights the ‘squeeze on charity wages’. PB...

linkedin.com

This is no more about the details of immigration policy than the progroms my great great grandparents fled were about Jews committing crimes. It's straightforward racist violence and it needs the strongest possible response.

Universities *can be* engines of social mobility. They can also enhance opportunities for the privileged. Admissions too often reflect privilege rather than potential, & people from ordinary backgrounds rarely get as much benefit from the experience. www.ft.com/content/8fc1...

In case you wanted it, here’s a goose having a shower

Please stop talking about Gen Z in the office ft.trib.al/7EqwptG | opinion

Please stop talking about Gen Z in the office

Mindless generational labels don’t help at a time when the workplace is one of the few places where young and old mix

ft.trib.al

🚨Applications close this week🚨 We're recruiting for three exciting permanent roles within our Research and Policy team, at different levels of experience. Find our more and apply now ➡️ buff.ly/N4Xuj8b

When I used to write for The Guardian, every time I wrote the word “meow” the editors would change it to “miaow”. It used to really get on my wick. Don’t try to make my cats sound like your upper middle class London cats, you fuckers. My cats did not go to your posh cat schools. They say “meow”.

"This week saw crowds in Trafalgar Square with a vision of a country divided *BUT* also a more hopeful, & accurate, vision of a friendly, neighbourly Britain in which 2/3 of us say our local community is peaceful and friendly..." www.linkedin.com/posts/duncan... #MillionActsOfHope

#millionactsofhope | Duncan Exley

This week we’ve seen crowds in Trafalgar Square with a vision of a country divided. *BUT* we’ve also seen a more hopeful – & accurate — vision of a friendly, neighbourly Britain. An example of the la...

linkedin.com

'1 in 10 young people not in education, employment or training now has a degree... Employers are demanding skilled labour but... the government tightly controls numbers entering further education... further education colleges will turn away thousands of young people in September' #SocialMobility

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 3mo ago

Too many young people pushed towards university, says UK government adviser ft.trib.al/sdboN5n

It’s tempting to dismiss [working class Reform] voters as stupid or bad…but isn’t the idea that 'whole categories of people are irredeemably bad' a core message of far-right populists?”

Duncan Exley@duncanexley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Populists intend to emasculate progressive organisations, and are winning ordinary Brits to their cause: New data, & how to win people back.... www.linkedin.com/posts/duncan... #Charities #Campaigning