Bridge Group evaluates Access Accountancy work experience

Bridge Group evaluates Access Accountancy work experience

18 May 2020

As we begin to unpick the impact of the Covid-19 global pandemic on inequality in the education sector and labour market, efforts to ensure equal awareness of, and access to, the professions are paramount.

Access Accountancy represents 25 professional services firms working together to create a more representative and socio-economically inclusive accountancy profession.

Over the last four years, the Bridge Group has been evaluating the impact of Access Accountancy work experience and analysing the diversity of applications and hires and membership of professional bodies. The most recent report, considering data from 2017-18, included quantitative data analysis of over 4.8 million coded data-points across eighteen firms and professional bodies and interviews across eight firms.

The research found that work experience opportunities are currently delivering positive gains, especially in terms of business skills and awareness and application/interview technique. Progress regarding the diversity of applicants and hires was, however, modest. Although the position of advantage secured by those who had attended independent schools had decreased somewhat, candidates from higher socio-economic backgrounds and who had attended independent schools were still more likely to be made an offer than their peers from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We have made practical recommendations, in our most recent report, to address this pattern in attraction and selection processes to improve diversity in the future.

You can view the latest report here.