In 2017, Team Arm piloted a partnership with Uptree, the professional network for young people. The pilot was a resounding success; we gained a fascinating insight into the mindset of Generation-Z and were able to play a part in steering more young people down a pathway to a STEM career.
In 2019 the partnership is being significantly scaled up. For Arm, working with Uptree is a real opportunity to directly cultivate the pipeline of future talent that will join the Arm ecosystem in years to come. The partnership also presents a meaningful way for people at Arm to pass on their knowledge through volunteering. In this interview, Anna Malan (Specialist, Community & Inclusion, Arm) speaks to Uptree co-founders Tamsin Dewhurst and Lucy Cranwell-Ward about how Arm and Uptree are working together to support the next generation of STEM talent.
Uptree is a professional network for young people aged 16-19, founded by Tamsin Dewhurst in July 2015. As a teacher in a challenging secondary school in London, Tamsin wanted to help more young people into the world of work. She started by speaking to companies about how they could support young people whilst they are still at school.
Uptree was founded to allow young people to connect with companies before they leave school. Students can access first-hand careers advice, connect directly with industry professionals and build their confidence. Uptree’s goal is to engage, inform and inspire the talent of tomorrow with the world of work, as well as raising the aspirations and employability of young people across the UK.
Whilst teaching, Tamsin encountered lots of bright young people studying STEM subjects who were all very academic, yet they lacked confidence when it came to career choices. When coming from lower income families, there was often an absence of STEM career role models in their communities.
According to a recent study by PwC on A-Level students, only 3% of females say a career in technology is their first choice and only 16% of females have had a career in technology suggested to them, compared to 33% of males. There is a lack of information in schools on what working in the technology industry involves and a lack of role models, which is why many young women aren’t considering technology careers. Tamsin wanted to bridge this gap for young people and companies.
Uptree was created to allow companies to educate and inspire young people about their future career pathways and connect with students face to face. It aims to provide students with up to date industry knowledge, confidence, soft skills and access to a professional network.
Uptree works with over 240 schools across the UK, targeting schools with above average numbers of young people eligible for free school meals. Over 15 key corporate partners, including Arm, support the mission to address the careers education disadvantage that exists across the UK.
They have connected over 2,500 young people to professionals over the past year at networking events and work experience days. Through surveys Uptree track the career choices and destinations of students that are in the network. Destination data can be hard to track through, but Uptree regularly receives updates on the impact its work has had. For example, five female students were recently offered technology-based entry level roles in partnered companies as a result of the insight days which they attended, which is a great result.
The Uptree network gives us real access into the mindsets of Generation Z. Based on feedback from them, Uptree has learned that the challenge is partly due to a lack of information on what careers exist and what skills are needed, but also a lack of confidence or role models. Young people can only aspire to what they know exists, and so that means not only providing them with the right information, but also with actual people in STEM that they can meet with, ask questions and aspire to be like. It helps if young people can relate to the professionals they meet, perhaps a recent graduate or from a similar background.
There are around 40,000 skilled STEM jobs left vacant each year in the UK. Women are highly under-represented in the technology industry. Uptree’s work aims to educate and inspire more female students to consider pursuing STEM related careers after education. Targeted schools’ outreach is effective in capturing students’ interest early. Uptree’s interactive school workshops help students learn about STEM related real-world problems and scenarios in a classroom setting, allowing them to foster connections between school subjects and examples of actual applications.
Following through with the interest from school workshops, students can apply to attend insight days which allow them to visit Arm's offices. Events are designed to ensure meaningful encounters take place with Arm volunteers through technology workshops, speed networking, and group challenges. These interactions contribute to dismantling gender stereotypes and connecting girls with female role models who help to raise their confidence, knowledge of careers and overall aspirations.
Through Uptree’s work with Arm, a high number of girls’ schools are targeted to ensure an even gender split at events. Through strategically partnering with schools, teachers and companies such as Arm, Uptree helps to implement a collaborative effort, which aims at inspiring more girls to pursue STEM-related careers.
Uptree has partnered with Arm since 2017 with the aim of raising awareness of Arm and the technology industry to local students across the UK, with a focus on engaging a high number of female students and students from low income communities. In 2018, the two companies co-created interactive and inspiring workshops, which aim to demystify the technology industry and make real world connections to STEM related issues and see technology as a force for good.
Uptree school workshops encourage students to learn about the incredible feats in technology, as well as learning about inspiring industry role models and their achievements such as Ada Lovelace. In 2018 Uptree hosted 10 interactive workshops in schools about Arm, reached 3,500 16-19 year old students face to face in schools and connected 140 targeted students with Arm volunteers, who gave 144 hours of their time.
Team Arm volunteers are key to the successful delivery of insight events. Arm insight days help students learn more about the wide variety of roles that exist in the technology industry, by speaking with employees from all levels through speed networking. The micro:bit workshops are a real highlight; they allow students to get hands on experience with technology, which gives them the confidence to visualize themselves working at a company like Arm in the future.
Uptree track students perceptions of careers in technology before and after insight days, below are some quotes by female students on what they gained from attending insight days;
“It has opened a whole new way of thinking for me with regards to what working in the technology industry is really like.” “It has given me a deeper insight into the roles and magnitude of jobs available within the tech sector.” “It has changed my views a lot. I thought careers in technology were only to do with coding, but there are a variety of career choices within the technology industry.”
“It has opened a whole new way of thinking for me with regards to what working in the technology industry is really like.”
“It has given me a deeper insight into the roles and magnitude of jobs available within the tech sector.”
“It has changed my views a lot. I thought careers in technology were only to do with coding, but there are a variety of career choices within the technology industry.”
In 2019, Arm is working with Uptree to reach, educate and inspire an even greater number of students nationally with a focus on connecting with students in Manchester, Glasgow, Warwick and Loughborough. This year, the aim is to connect over 1,000 students face to face with Arm volunteers at insight days and networking events, and 25,000 students through Arm’s content in schools. Also, Arm is working with Uptree in 2019 to help teachers become more skilled and confident in inspiring their students to pursue STEM careers.
Through the sponsorship of Careers Curriculum, Uptree is able to deliver weekly, fully-resourced lesson plans to teachers across the UK. Uptree’s teacher resources will help to educate over 25,000 students about the opportunities that exist within companies such as Arm. Uptree is also delighted to partner with Arm on The Future Talent Awards created to showcase and celebrate upcoming talent and identify future leaders to watch in the years to come.
By working together, the aim is to raise awareness of the potential, ambition and achievements of 16-19 year old students through the event and award one student with the Arm Young Coder of the Year Award.
If you work at Arm you can join an upcoming insight day in Manchester, Loughborough, Warwick and Glasgow speak to your local Team Arm Champion or visit the Giving Hub to find out more. You can also volunteer your time by attending school workshops in your local area and bring to life what it’s like to work at Arm.
If you don’t work at Arm there are lot of other ways to get involved including contacting your local school and hosting a talk or workshop on your career journey and company. If resources are challenging in terms of connecting with schools, Uptree can help your organisation tap into their network of schools and engage with a wider network of students.
Organisations should work with schools and partners such as Uptree to highlight how STEM subjects can be used as a force for good, and the impact that a career in STEM can have on the world if they want to attract more young women to pursue STEM careers.
Learn how Uptree can help your organisation