Becoming more diverse and inclusive is important to any organisation – work culture inclusion is a deciding factor in improved work productivity for around 77% of women and 67% of men, according to Accenture’s Getting to Equal recent report.
Ascento Learning and Development are delighted to have witnessed how successful learning and work progressions have been from the initial D2N2 Digital Marketing Bootcamps. Participants have gone into apprenticeships, as a result of the confidence, knowledge and overall empowerment they gained from the Bootcamps.
Chris Ash is the Managing Director at Ascento, in our latest guest blog, Chris spoke to us about the impact of D2N2’s Digital Marketing Bootcamps, both for gender equality and the resulting career prospects.
Many firms quite rightly are concerned about gender equality. Prior to the pandemic, we noticed that the startup, SME, scaleup communities and even larger companies were beginning to shift in a more favourable direction to address any inequalities. Through the Bootcamp course, we have witnessed a large female uptake in this funded opportunity and this has helped upskill them in the workplace in areas they wished to focus upon.
At Ascento Learning and Development, we have seen more women accessing our Digital Marketing apprenticeship portfolio following the Bootcamp. Not only this, we’ve noted that women who were newly unemployed due to the pandemic within the D2N2 region were more likely to take the course up compared to men in the same position.
One student has stood out in the learning and work progressions and why the course was attractive to women in employment within D2N2 was Emma Gillgrass works in Marketing for Prime Accounts. She was an original member of the first Bootcamp cohort and has progressed through to our Digital Marketing Level 3 Apprenticeship to further enhance her career, learning and development.
The availability of Digital Marketing Bootcamps have proven that people with a desire to learn can make a new career for themselves – without the need for previous experience or a University education.
A new age for learning – and for equality in the workplace
While the pandemic resulted in a cessation of in-person learning, with education undergoing significant transformations in virtual classroom courses and on-demand online courses growing in popularity through digital platforms; Ascento has thrived as an online learning and development provider increasing retention and time efficiencies. This has provided flexibility for our staff and learners as well as their employers.
This is all part of a bigger picture that reflects the picture of global business management; Accenture’s yearly research shows that only 2.8 percent of Fortune Global 500 businesses have a female CEO. Furthermore, just one out of every five enterprises are established by a woman, whilst only 27% of women hold top positions in media businesses, according to the Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media (just over a quarter).
We, at Ascento, practice what we preach about gender equality and are conscious of creating a thriving environment for all. We believe this was and continues to be a strong part of our company’s culture, ethos and values, and we are looking forward to following continuing this journey with our employee partners.
