LSB to force law firms to publish diversity stats

This was the subject of an article in Lawyer2B reporting on the The Legal Services Board (LSB) which  has just announced proposals that would see all law firms and barristers chambers in England and Wales gathering and publishing data about the diversity of their workforce – encompassing all personnel from partners to support staff and all levels between. Existing data and research illustrates that there are still significant barriers to progression and retention for practitioners, and diminishing representation for lawyers from non-traditional backgrounds at the highest levels of the profession. For example, just 25% of partners in solicitors firms are women and 3.5% of partners in the top 150 firms are black or minority ethnic.

Breaking into the publishing world

Pearson Diversity Summer Internship: Open Evening on 8th February 2011 offers you a chance to find out more about this programme and see if it’s for you.  The scheme has been running for several years now and you can get further information and feedback from previous interns by visiting the website http://summerinternships.pearson.com

Thinking of working for yourself?

How would you like to work from a location that’s convenient for  you and hours that suit as well?  Self-employment is an option for disabled people that can often be very liberating as well as a chance to reinvent your career. Why disability shouldn’t stop you being an entrepreneur, an article in The Guardian looks at some of the challenges that people face and entrepreneurs  who have acheived success in this area. It  details a number of organisations that exist to help such as the Disabled Entrepreneurs Network.  The aim of DEN is to provide networking opportunities and information services for self-employed disabled people.

Internship Opportunity at the British Council

An internship opportunity has arisen to work with the CEO of the British Council. A 6 week placement will be offered to candidates who are deaf, HoH or have a disability, in order to offer new perspectives on how the org can expand opportunities to contribute to their work. Consisting of admin, planning, research & speech writing.  To apply send a CV  and a concise supporting statement.  The statement should outline your motivation for the internship, your learning goals, the specific contribution you feel you could make and the relevance of the internship to your future career plans. To jenifer.atkins@britishcouncil.org     Closing date: 10th December 2010

Networking for women entrepreneurs

More women than ever are starting businesses, moving up the corporate ladder and taking leadership roles.This article from The Guardian last Saturday – Women Entrepreneurs Embrace Networking –  explores some of the business networks and opportunities available throughout the country including B.Hive – a new network of business clubs for women. The intention is to create a “one-stop shop” for women to network and meet clients, or just catch up with emails for an hour in a comfortable space.

Part time students

A recent press release from the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) recognised the fact that part time students are often balancing jobs, study and family commitments and may see that accessing the careers service just doesn’t fit into their busy schedule. This isn’t however, the barrier that you might think as increasingly careers services are developing a range of services that can be accessed 24/7. Make a start by checking out your careers service’s website – there’s  likely to be a number of useful resources and advice available there. Careers Tagged, for example is an interactive library of graduate careers information and JobOnline provides constant access to a wide range of vacancies. Blogs and Forums where you can share experiences (Reach has both) and social networking sites like Facebook are excellent ways to find out what’s going on at the careers service. More flexible arrangements such as lunch-time CV checking or evening workshops and presentations might be available so do make enquiries. Don’t forget that many part time students have a broad range of skills and experience to offer employers. It”s up to you to make the most of them… with a little help from your careers service!

Looking for funding?

The 2011 Google Scholarship for Students with Disabilities,  is for students studying Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Informatics or closely related technical fields.

Recipients will each receive a EUR 7,000 scholarship and an all-expenses-paid networking retreat to Google’s Engineering Centre in Zurich, with workshops, speakers, panels, breakout sessions and social activities for meeting and share experiences.

The deadline for applications is 20th January 2011.For more information on this fantastic opportunity please see -http://www.google.com/studentswithdisabilities-europe/>

Interested in a career in the media?

A recent present release from Channel 4 announced it will spend £500,000 on a search for disabled on-screen talent to present coverage of the 2012 Paralympics.  The channel  plans to train fresh talent to appear alongside  well-known retired  Paralympians and thereby hoping to raise the profile of both disabled presenters and athletes when it screens the London games.

The second bit of media related news to appear this week is the Move on Up Initiative. Move on Up at the Radio Festival will address the under-representation of black and minority ethnic workers in the radio industry by setting up one-to-one meetings with key industry executives.
For more information about the event see http://www.bectu.org.uk/news/943. If you are interested in applying then you need to get your application in by September 15th.

Equal pay for women not likely till 2067, says research

That’s the report of findings from The Chartered Institue of Management (see The Guardian)  Forty years after the Equal Pay Act was passed, the study shows that the gender pay gap still remains. Male and female managers will not be paid the same until 2067. The data  shows that women have been harder hit by the recession. Campaigners will call for the government to enforce pay equality in the UK, which has one of the biggest biggest gender salary gaps in Europe.