Day: 26 May 2019

‘It pays to be privileged’ says report on social mobility

Stuart Mitchell

A new report has found that social mobility has remained “virtually stagnant” since 2014 and calls for urgent action to tackle the “privilege gap”. This year’s State of the Nation report, published by the Social Mobility Commission – a non-government department sponsored by the Department for Education – attests that “being born privileged means you are likely to remain privileged”. The report shows those from working-class backgrounds are significantly less likely to embark on a career in a professional occupation. Those that do, continue to face challenges – earning “on…

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New IPA President Nigel Vaz launches ‘Reimagine’ agenda

Stuart Mitchell

Vaz, the first IPA President from a technology background and the first of Indian-American heritage, pledged to use his different perspective to change the relevance of agencies to clients, and to establish agencies as partners for growth. Says Vaz: “Most companies are great at their core business, but not great at reimagining the future of their business. Agencies are no different from their clients in this regard. Our challenges and future success are interconnected. “My agenda will be to Reimagine – to build new relevance and maintain it. We must…

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PRCA relaunch LGBTQ+ Group with Katie Traxton at helm

Stuart Mitchell

The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has appointed WeAreFearless Marketing and PR Director, Katie Traxton CMPRCA, as Chairman of the newly relaunched PRCA LGBTQ+ Group. The PRCA LGBTQ+ Group has relaunched with the mission statement to campaign for teams, work, and an industry that are all inclusive, further embracing the PRCA’s duty to represent everyone as equal as we promote excellence, progress, and open communication in PR and communications. Having spent most of her career in the international motorsport industry, Katie’s experience includes working for then FIA World Rally…

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First UNESCO recommendations to combat gender bias in applications using artificial intelligence

Stuart Mitchell

Beginning as early as next year, many people are expected to have more conversations with digital voice assistants than with their spouse. Presently, the vast majority of these assistants—from Amazon’s Alexa to Microsoft’s Cortana—are projected as female, in name, sound of voice and ‘personality’. ‘I’d blush if I could’, a new UNESCO publication produced in collaboration with Germany (link is external) and the EQUALS Skills Coalition (link is external) holds a critical lens to this growing and global practice, explaining how it: reflects, reinforces and spreads gender bias; models acceptance…

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Nominate extraordinary female scientists for the 2020 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards

Stuart Mitchell

Scientists from around the world are invited to nominate candidates for the 2020 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science awards. The awards will recognize the scientific accomplishments of five outstanding researchers in the Life Sciences, each working in one of the following regions: Africa and the Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America & North America. Since its creation in 1998, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme has distinguished 107 eminent women at the height of their scientific careers and supported more than 3,000 promising young women scientists from 117 countries…

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