Community Outreach
Educational Outreach: Uniting to create future tech leaders
5 min read
It’s time for our workforces to reflect our society. Let’s make it happen.
Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. At Multiverse, we provide equitable access to economic opportunity, for everyone.
Our commitment
Everybody deserves a chance at a life of learning and a top career. That applies to Multiverse’s own people as much as the apprentices we support.
As we build a better system, we're committed to ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion are driving forces in all that we do – from the design and delivery of our programmes, to our recruitment, culture, learning and development.
What do we mean by diversity, equity and inclusion?
Diversity
Diversity includes the full spectrum of human difference and is about ensuring organisations are representative of the communities they serve.
Equity
Equity is about providing individuals with fair access to opportunities and resources by meeting their needs and counteracting systemic barriers.
Inclusion
Inclusion is the feeling of belonging within the workplace, creating a culture where individuals feel valued, respected and encouraged to fully participate.
Our Apprentice Community
To build the diverse, equitable and inclusive workforces of the future, we believe there are three key areas organizations must focus on: widening access to apprenticeships, creating an inclusive learning environment and designing inclusive programmes.
Our Vision
We're breaking down an old system – and building a better one. To achieve this, we're committed to leading the way in inclusive hiring and making sure everybody has a pathway to success.
Widening Access to Apprenticeships
We're committed to widening access to apprenticeships for individuals currently underrepresented in the sectors we work with. When recruiting apprentices to place with our clients, we have dedicated outreach programmes like our Schools & Colleges Liaison Programme and our Tech Talent Accelerator. As part of our commitment to diversity and widening access to careers, we design bespoke initiatives for underrepresented groups such refugees, care leavers and young women interested in tech careers. We also work closely with local councils, youth workers and youth organisations that are supporting young people who are NEET (not in education, employment, or training). On top of this, our platform includes features that help employers better understand achievements in context – helping to level the playing field.
When partnering with clients to upskill existing employees, we work closely to support them to reach individuals within their organizations who may be underrepresented in certain areas of the business, for example supporting women to develop the data science skills to progress into technical roles.
Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment
As part of the Multiverse applied learning model, each apprentice has their own Multiverse coach providing personalized sessions throughout their apprenticeship journey. Our coaches and curriculum are targeted at equipping apprentices with both the technical and durable skills necessary to navigate the full range of workplace opportunities and challenges. Additionally, our dedicated Apprentice Support Team also provides learning strategies, exam adjustments and referrals to mental health support as required.
Community is a core pillar of the Multiverse experience. It's how our apprentices create a powerful network of peers. Through inspiring and thought-provoking events and content, our community amplifies a diversity of voices. These include activities led by our apprentice Women's Network, LGBTQ+ Network called Prism, Multicultural Network and Neurodiversity Network.
We know that not everyone will have access to mentorship through their personal networks, so we're delighted to offer Multiverse apprentices both a mentoring programme delivered by industry professionals and a buddying scheme. Our latest community programme, Elevate, empowers apprentices to develop their public speaking, influencing and leadership skills – all vital tools for career progression.
We also welcome amazing guest speakers like author and activist for the Trans community, Charlie Craggs, TV broadcaster, presenter and BBC Director of Creative Diversity, June Sarpong and Paralympian, Amy Marren. These events celebrate difference, build an inclusive environment and support apprentices to develop personally and professionally.
Designing Inclusive Programmes
We are committed to designing apprenticeship curriculum and assessments that are consistently accessible and inclusive. To achieve this we launched an Inclusive Programming Taskforce within our Learning Team. The team are in the process of rolling out our Inclusive Programming Framework which will be applied to all aspects of the learning journey.
We're excited that our Alumni Team are building a community offer for all Multiverse alumni. As part of this work, we will be seeking to deepen our understanding of the long-term impact of a Multiverse apprenticeship on a learner's career. DEI will be core to this work as we know from external research that there is a range of barriers individuals from underrepresented groups face regarding career progression. As part of this project, we'll work towards having the robust, long-term data we need, to design alumni opportunities that will support all of our apprentices to achieve their goals, far beyond graduation.
Impact Report 2023
We continue to transform the diversity of the corporate workforce and in our Impact Report 2023 we share further progress in this space. We look forward to updating this page in due course.
Gender
Apprentices placed by Multiverse in 2021
- Women 52%
- Men 48%
Existing employee apprentices at Multiverse in 2021
- Women 51%
- Men 49%
UK apprenticeship starts 2019/2020
- Women 51.2%
- Men 48.8%
Ethnicity
Apprentices placed by Multiverse in 2021
- Asian 23%
- Black 21%
- White 37%
- Mixed/Multiple ethnicity 8%
- Other 4%
- Unknown 8%
Existing employee apprentices at Multiverse in 2021
- Asian 11%
- Black 6%
- White 76%
- Mixed/Multiple ethnicity 4%
- Other 1%
- Unknown 1%
UK apprenticeship starts 2019/2020
- Asian 5.6%
- Black 3.7%
- White 84.8%
- Mixed/Multiple ethnicity 2.8%
- Other 0.9%
- Unknown 1.9%
Apprentices who are disabled or have additional support needs
Apprentices placed by Multiverse in 2021
- Yes 28%
- No 72%
Existing employee apprentices in 2021
- Yes 16%
- No 84%
UK apprenticeship starts 2019/2020
- Yes 12.2%
- No 85.4%
- Unknown 2.4%
Socio-economic indicators of disadvantage
Apprentices placed by Multiverse in 2021
- Apprentice meets 1 or more indicators of socio-economic disadvantage 41%
- Apprentice meets no indicators of socio-economic disadvantage 59%
Existing employee apprentices in 2021
- Apprentice meets 1 or more indicators of socio-economic disadvantage 22%
- Apprentice meets no indicators of socio-economic disadvantage 78%
Our Workforce
We want to be a leader in DEI, so we’re working hard to drive the change we want to see in the world, inside Multiverse.
Our Vision
As we approach 700 employees, we're putting DEI at the centre of our rapid growth. This means building a diverse workforce at all levels of our organisation – and creating a working environment where everyone can thrive.
Recruitment
Everything we do in this space is undertaken with the goal of being representative of the geographies in which we operate – and our apprentice community. Gender diversity has been a long-term challenge for the tech world. We're proud that 55% of our UK Team identify as women, this increases to 64% of our Global Leadership Team (director level and above). We're also proud of our thriving LGBTQQIAAP community, comprising 11% of our UK Team.
We're committed to improving the diversity of our workforce, at all levels. We continue to invest in early talent through our in-house apprenticeship scheme – something we know is a fantastic route into our organization for exceptional talent from a diversity of backgrounds.
Last year we identified improving the diversity of our Global Leadership Team (director level+) internally as an area of focus. Steps that we took included introducing robust DEI monitoring processes, rolling out Inclusive Recruitment Training to all staff involved in the hiring, and launching our first internal, Global Leadership Accelerator program.
We’re proud that in the last 12 months, the representation of colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds at director+ levels, globally, has increased from 6% to 19%. This is good progress but we still have work to do and are committed to building a leadership team that is representative of our colleagues and of the communities we serve.
We also continue to invest in our in-house apprenticeship scheme – something we know is a fantastic route into our organisation for exceptional talent from a diversity of backgrounds. We launched Sales Academy in Summer 2021 and this programme has gone from strength to strength, we’ll recruit our 3rd and 4th cohorts this year and we continue to partner with the Black Young Professionals Network (BYP)
Development & Retention
To create a working environment where everyone can thrive, all Multiverse staff receive Diversity, Equity & Inclusion training from the point of induction with regular sessions throughout the employee lifecycle. Like with our applied learning model, we believe regular reflection, implementation and continuous improvement is crucial to creating an inclusive environment where all staff and learners can thrive.
We launched our first internal Leadership Accelerator as a route for internal talent from backgrounds currently underrepresented in our leadership team to grow within our business as we scale. This is a 12 month program where each participant is paired with a member of the Senior Leadership Team to take part in a structured mentorship and sponsorship relationship. In addition, participants complete bi-monthly training and group coaching.
Culture
At Multiverse, DEI is underpinned by both our social mission and our values. We celebrate differences, embrace the diversity of our colleagues, and enjoy learning from one another. Through our annual inclusion calendar, we have regular opportunities to educate ourselves on a range of topics through book clubs, events and webinars, including our Accessibility and Inclusive Design Workshop and our cross-business programme for Pride.
Each team at Multiverse has a DEI Champion who make up our Global DEI Committee, US DEI Sub-committee and Learning & Delivery DEI Sub-committees. Their role is to work within their team to embed inclusion into everyday practices, listen to their colleagues, and share ideas and feedback. This year, we will also launch our first global Employee Resource Groups.
Gender & Sexuality
Multiverse Team: Sexuality
- Heterosexual 64%
- Bisexual 5%
- Gay 3%
- Lesbian 1%
- Other 1%
- Pansexual 1%
- Prefer not to say 5%
- Unknown 19%
Multiverse Team: Gender
- Women 55%
- Men 43%
- Non-binary+ 1%
- Prefer not to say 1%
UK Tech Sector: Gender (comparative data set for sexuality unavailable)
- Women 21%
- Men 79%
Ethnicity
Multiverse Team
- Asian 9%
- Black 7%
- White 60%
- Mixed/Multiple ethnicity 5%
- Other 1%
- Prefer not to say 1%
- Unknown 16%
UK Tech Sector
- Asian 9%
- Black 2%
- White 84%
- Other 5%
Individuals who are are disabled
Multiverse Team
- Yes 4%
- No 74%
- Prefer not to say 3%
- Unknown 19%
UK Tech Sector
- Yes 11%
- No 89%
