How Human Capability Indexing Creates Access for Marginalised Groups - Guest blog by Ieman Aljak
The concept of education and access to opportunities has long been a debate. For UK citizens, we have been blessed with the opportunity to go to school for free and access opportunities that are meant to be open to all. But when it comes to the discussion of whether access is accessible, it’s met with varying opinions from different people.
As a first-generation black female student, I have had my fair share of struggles to access. In short words, my whole academic history felt like I was pulling needles out of a haystack.
Many people I was surrounded by grew up with immigrant parents that told us to aim high. Whether that’s studying to become a doctor or a lawyer, or even an artist. They often reminded us that the world is in our hands and all we had to do was shoot high into the sky and magically we would land ourselves a 6-figure business and a 3-storey home. The funny thing is, parents and academic professionals are often ruled by the myth of meritocracy, the idea that whatever hard work we put in the more likely we would be able to develop new opportunities and increase our chances of success. Although they are not necessarily wrong, I find it unfair because, from a young age, I possessed so much creative talent (from drawing to communications to music) that managed to slip through the cracks of the education system, which could have been explored if I was knowledgeable to what my opportunities were.
There were constant comments by educational professionals that, ‘I have so much potential’ and, ‘I’m guaranteed to do well!", but less focus was placed on providing the opportunity to get there. Issues like this only became prominent to me when I realised the extent that parental and generational influence have on a persons success. When I began to search for work experience placements, I struggled to find a place that would take me for a week. Even local bakeries and retail shops did not seem to give me the time of day. When I expressed my issues to my peers that were achieving similar grades to me, I would often be met with a wry statement like, ‘Oh, I just asked my dad to see if one of his friends at his business could let me shadow’. Instances like these led me to think, "Why am I struggling to find opportunities for myself that other people are finding so easily?" Often, I felt feelings of frustration and slight envy. Even though this is one example, experiences like this built over and over during my academic years; suddenly I found myself at the age of 18 with a CV the size of a shopping list and no idea what to do.
Success is different for each person. For me personally, success means having a well-paying job/ business where I can live comfortably and not have to worry about whether I’ll have money left over at the end of the month. I’ve spent time thinking about why this is my idea of success, and it dates back to key memories in my childhood where I felt deprived in some way, either my parents not being able to afford the latest toy or missing out on hobbies like dance and art because of how expensive they are. As a child, you don’t understand why you can’t have something that you desperately want, and that my much-wanted barbie doll dream house would make the difference of whether we eat dinner this week.
After speaking to other girls who come from a similar background as me, we all realised that we had this internal fiend for success in common. Each one of us has different goals and aspirations, but a financially stable life is one of them. But the problem that we were discussing was, how do we become successful when there are many obstacles in our way?
One person I spoke to mentioned the importance of building connections in our field of interest, such as joining relevant events and workshops in order to meet like-minded people. However, another problem we encountered was that not many of us had connections. Most people are able to ring their uncle or aunt who runs a business and magically they receive numbers of people that can help kick-start whatever ideas they had. We noticed that the lack of connections in the workplace made it harder for us first-generation working-class students to step foot into the industry.
I took me a while to understand that supposed ‘access’ is not actually access for all. Educational fronts such as work experience weeks, internships, and networking events are marketed as opportunities to expand your experience and skillset. But the question and frustration I have is - how can you expand a skillset that you aren’t aware of?
What I mean here, is that a lot of marginalised groups have not even been met with an opportunity to figure out who they are or what they even like properly, or where their interests can take them. The reasons why can vary from lack of material and cultural capital.
Unfortunately, employers cannot rely on just words and over enthusiastic statements, this is where the need for an assessment that is representative of a person’s skills need to be introduced. Lumenai has been the first company that did not rely on a list of prior academic achievements to base whether they felt I would be a good fit or not. Assessing my soft skills and reasoning via a lumen assessment gave them an in-depth representation of skills that cannot be cheated. For once I felt as if my skills were being recognised and I did not feel the need to prove myself with a list of internship or academic success. It felt like I was finally being seen for all my attributes without having to beg an employer to give me a chance. It’s a new feeling that I have not experienced before to be praised and allowed to research with a reputable company that encourages my creativity and help people who are like me.
After all, I believe that academic exams and tests only test a person’s ability to memorise and think critically in relation to a subject; ignoring the other skills that make a difference between a good hire and a bad hire. The typical recruitment process of sending a CV to employers for them to judge a person they have never met needs updating if employers wish to make better hires whilst adhering to equal opportunities for all.