Brit partners with GT Scholars to launch online digital challenges aimed at increasing diversity of young people attracted to careers in insurance

Brit Insurance (‘Brit’) has partnered with GT Scholars, a UK based social enterprise, to launch online digital challenges that help young people access career opportunities in insurance and build their employability skills.

Research from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has found that diversity remains an issue in the insurance industry, despite the fact that most insurance companies have diversity and inclusion initiatives in place. In particular, recent research has highlighted the disproportionately low number of women working in insurance, relatively to other industries in the UK, as well as the lower than average representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic employees.

Furthermore, research has also shown that the industries young people aspire to work in differ greatly from the jobs available in the UK. According to a report by Education and Employers: Disconnected: Career aspirations and jobs in the UK (2020), young people aged 14-18 are not being educated about the workforce and areas of demand. This report emphasises the disconnect between aspiration and opportunity and the importance of career support. For instance, five times as many young people want to work in art, culture, entertainment and sport as there are jobs available.

In addition to this, children as young as the age of seven already face limits on their future career aspirations, according to the Envisioning the Future of Education and Jobs: Trends, Data and Drawings report from the OECD international economics think tank (2019). The report highlights the barriers to social mobility and how young people only consider jobs that they know of. 

GT Scholars is a social mobility organisation that works with young people aged 11-18. Having worked with over 10,000 young people across the UK, it runs free online career summits and digital challenges designed to introduce young people to new career opportunities, build young people’s employability skills and help young people achieve their career aspirations. GT Scholars has partnered with Brit to launch online work experience for young people to learn about careers in the insurance industry. 

The ‘GT Scholars x Brit Insurance digital challenges’ have been designed as an alternative to work experience. The online challenges are accessible to young people throughout the UK and have been designed to build their interest and knowledge of the insurance sector, and to establish useful employability skills that they can use regardless of the career that they pursue.

“The quality of careers advice and the availability, and awareness of work experience opportunities, varies across the country. This often depends on the school that you attend and your postcode. As a social mobility organisation, our goal is to ensure that young people across the UK have the opportunity to access careers support and discover new careers that they may have otherwise not considered.” - Temi Kamson, GT Scholars CEO

“The figures and studies on diversity and inclusion in insurance indicate that we need to go beyond just internal initiatives and examine how we can improve the breadth of talent coming into our industry. We need to address how employees are brought into the insurance sector and how we can support young people and encourage them to consider a career in insurance while building their skills.” - Wayne Page, Head of Head of Inclusion and Diversity at Brit commented

The challenges are open to anyone aged 11-18, regardless of their background. As part of these online challenges, individuals will learn about the basics of insurance, and gain an understanding of risk, claims and the business of insurance. They will also have a chance to develop their research skills, presentation skills, creativity, and analytical skills.

Young people will learn how to find solutions to insurance-related problems. This provides them with real-life scenarios that will introduce them to new concepts and build their employability skills. All challenge participants will be able to receive a certificate of completion which they can add to their CV or personal statement. They’ll also have a chance to pitch a strategic business improvement idea to the CEO of Brit. 

The online digital challenges will be launched in May 2022. In addition to winning a share of £3000, winners for the GT Scholars x Brit Insurance challenge will be invited to the Brit’s offices in London where they will take part in a career insight day with up to two family members.

To find out more about the GT Scholars x Brit Insurance Digital Challenges, visit: https://britchallenge.gtscholars.org.