Department: Across the Faculty of Sciences

Project Leads: Andrew Mizumori-Hirst (School of Physics, Engineering & Technology) Karisha George (Psychology)

Summary

A key University mechanism enabling students to transition into graduate-level work are year in industry placements. For instance, 74% of employer members of the Institute of Student Employers described students who had completed a placement as more career-ready than those who had not (ISE Recruitment Survey 2024). However, there may be issues in the rates at which different students access placements. For instance, metrics from the School of Physics Engineering and Technology (PET) indicate that while students equally register for 12-month placements, those from widening participation (WP) backgrounds are less likely to successfully secure these. This project, working across the Faculty of Science (FoS), aims to explore the subject-specific enablers and barriers for WP students accessing 12 month work placements, with a view to reducing these disproportionate drop-out rates.