• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tiktok
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Life
  • Entertainment
  • Food & Drink
  • Editor's Picks
  • About us
  • Contact us
News
Featured

TipStart digital platform addresses inequalities faced by graduates entering employment

  • 10 August 2020
  • Newsdesk
  • Follow @SW_Londoner
  • 0 comments

By Mimi Swaby Cook
August 10 2020, 13.00
Follow @SW_Londoner

A new digital platform creating a community of professionals and those pursuing a given career but who may face barriers due to discrimination or prejudice is being launched.

TipStart, founded in July by a group of seven graduates, aged 23 to 28, has exceeded target sign ups, averaging seven per day, despite still being in a soft launch stage.

Co-founder of TipStart Eleanor Sheldon, 23, said: “We set up TipStart as a community for people with a shared goal to take on privilege, nepotism and barriers to equal opportunity, and to help people realise their ambitions.

“It started as an idea following the harrowing murder of George Floyd which reminded the world how deeply embedded racism and prejudice are still in the fabric of communities.”

The Social Mobility Commission’s 2019 poll on privilege and employment revealed 44% of participants agreed where you end up in society is largely determined by your background. Only 35% believed everyone has a chance to ‘get on’ and find employment.

TipStart’s five targets areas are law, finance, government and policy, journalism and consulting.

The programme will match professionals (TipSters) with those facing barriers (TipStarters).

Tipsters will commit a few hours each month to provide inside knowledge and tips to help initiate a TipStarter’s career.

This may be in a zoom meeting or in person over coffee.

TipStarters include, but are not limited to, first generation university students, black and ethnic minority people and people with disabilities.

Miss Sheldon noted: “We believe young people’s careers should reflect their talent, hard-work and choices, not their background or personal connections, but sadly in the UK today it often does not.”

The target areas are not just TipStart founders’ areas of expertise, but the main sectors found to have disproportional employee configurations.

Miss Sheldon said: “One example is the legal profession which has a strong perception of being elitist. Often people self-select themselves out of applying in the first place.”

She added: “We know people from a range of backgrounds get into universities, it is not that people aren’t able to do it, but they then have barriers that block them from careers.”

In UK journalism, just 19% of newspaper columnists come from non-privileged educational backgrounds, the 2019 Social Mobility Commission and Sutton Trust report revealed.

Miss Sheldon said: “The rate of people securing high quality employment post university still very much varies depending on their backgrounds.”

TipStart also provides young people to access information about careers they want to pursue including interview advice or opportunities they can apply for.

Miss Sheldon said: “The tips, networks and experiences shared within these new relationships will make the difference.”

The platform has received a hugely positive response from professionals wanting to sign up and people endorsing the cause, including MP Sharon Hodgson.

TipStarter enrolment opens in September to coincide with graduate schemes and students returning to university.

Related Articles

Kingston youth job market continues to struggle post-Brexit

Universities experience a dip in international student enrolment

A classroom

South East London claims highest school exclusion rates in London

State school applications in decline across south west London

Tags

careerdiversityeducationemploymentEmployment and Support Allowanceemployment schemeequaliutygraduatesinequalityunemployed graduates

SWL Podcasts

Lance Stroll's Aston Martin

The SWL Formula 1 podcast: Bahrain and Saudi Arabia 2023

22 March 2023

The SWL men’s Six Nations review podcast

21 March 2023

The SWL football podcast – Euro 2024 qualifiers

  • News
  • Sport
  • Life
  • Entertainment
  • Food & Drink
  • Editor’s Picks
SW Londoner
  • About us
  • Editorial Complaints
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact us
Local News
  • Hammersmith & Fulham
  • Kensington & Chelsea
  • Croydon
  • Kingston
  • Lambeth
  • Merton
  • Richmond
  • Sutton
  • Wandsworth
  • Westminster
  • Wimbledon
Sister Sites
  • North East Londoner
  • South East Londoner
  • North West Londoner
Join our weekly newsletter

Would you like to get the best stories of the week directly in your inbox? Enter your details below to receive weekly updates and opportunities.

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: South West Londoner. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

© 1997-2025 South West Londoner. Built by Tigerfish

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Editorial Complaints
Our Spring Sale Has Started

You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/

Our Spring Sale Has Started

You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/

Fill in the SWL

90-Second Survey

To be in with a chance to win a

Magnum of Champagne

Start Survey