The UK’s first degree course in “social change” has attracted five times more candidates per place than Oxford University, as young people flock to activist careers to reshape a world strained by environmental and wealth inequalities.
Freshers gathered for the start of the pioneering course this week at Queen Mary University of London where they have been paired with major charities in a study-apprenticeship programme aimed at forging a new generation of charity leaders.
Around 80% of the students are from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, which the course leaders hope will change a status quo which saw a third of the UK’s largest charities led by completely white teams last year, according to a study of 100 organisations.
Charities which have signed up to take on the degree apprentices include WaterAid, Alzheimer’s Society, Action for Children, Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM) and the Scouts. They will be taught ethics, advocacy, accounting and law with modules on starting up organisations, mentoring others and using social media.
“You have generations growing up now, the Greta Thunbergs of this world who want to take action to make the world a better place,” said Dr Philippa Lloyd, vice-principal of Queen Mary. “They want to make a social impact as well as an economic impact. That is what this is tapping into.”
More than 500 people applied for the 13 places on the four-year BSc course – the equivalent of 38 per place, whereas six people applied for every place at Oxford University in 2017. There are two days of study each week and the rest is work with the host charity. The apprentices earn the minimum wage.
“My area is quite rough,” said Adarsh Ramchurn, from Ilford, at the course launch. “There’s knife crime and youth violence and that’s something I don’t want to escalate. The fact I know we are changing lives and wanting to make a positive impact in society [is important to me].”
Shania Thomas, 19, from Chiswick said she was among those in her generation who had concluded that capitalism was not working and so their career choices were increasingly focusing on social change.
“Coming from a disadvantaged background I think about how I can help other people and be a role model,” she said. “This degree will help us find out how to do something about [the problems we see]. Being a role model in the Bame community has partly motivated me to do this.”
Lloyd said: “Rather than acting like Lady Bountiful, it is about having empathy with the lived experience.
“You can appreciate it, but you can’t fully understand it unless you have lived with people or have had that experience yourself. I think that diversity is really important and getting that into the senior leadership, not just of charities.”
Mike Wojick, chairman of YGAM which is taking on Nadia Tarik, 22, from Bromley as a degree apprentice, said many of the people his charity helped worked as warehouse labourers or drivers, and the leadership of charities needed to better reflect their users.
“As a professional you don’t have much experience of people working in those areas,” he said. “That’s why it’s important for our staff to reflect that and get pathways in those communities.”
The chief executive of Scouts, Matt Hyde, said: “There is an explicit aim to diversify the charity sector which is predominantly white.
“We need more people with lived experience leading social sector organisations. We have to channel the frustrations about the inequalities into practical solutions and this is one of those solutions.”
