Leeds Beckett University (LBU) and the Yorkshire Asian Business Association (YABA) have recently been working together to understand and address the challenges faced by students from potentially disadvantaged backgrounds.
The partnership developed in response to LBUs commitment to address identified inequality gaps in the progression of students from an Asian heritage into highly skilled employment or further study 15 months after they have completed their studies. This is a firm commitment in the University’s Access and Participation Plan as the University takes proactive steps to support the progression of their diverse student population
The Employer Partnerships and Student Futures (EPSF) team at LBU, who hold strategic responsibility to support LBU students and graduates into an increasingly competitive labour market; set out to identify and understand the root of these issues. A series of employer roundtable discussions took place in Summer 2025 to gain insight from employers on where they believed these challenges occur and how they can collaborate with LBU to tackle the issues. EPSF and YABA worked closely throughout, establishing a strong partnership and shared vision.
The key findings from the initial discussions identified issues including candidates displaying a lack of confidence in their professional skills, as well as access to valuable work experience. Following the employer roundtables, LBU and YABA collaborated to host student discussions to ensure we could account for the student voice in our emerging work. The issues identified by students followed a similar theme, with the topic of work experience being raised along with confidence in networking and meeting industry contacts. Students also felt that visibly diverse representation was important to them in an employer, as well as citing a need for more diverse role models.
The University’s Access and Participation Plan establishes an institutional commitment to address identified inequality gaps in students access to higher education, completion and attainment in their studies, and progression into graduate level employment or further study. As part of this plan, we focus on building strategic partnerships with employers who actively commit to supporting EDI. An outcome from our research is noting the disconnect between employer and student perceptions as they try to navigate the labour market, and the financial and time pressures on our regional employers. To support this, in partnership with YABA and across our university community, EPSF (at LBU) has committed to developing guidance and resources.
To bring this together to meet employer interest, LBU will be hosting an informative Inclusive Recruitment session in September covering topics including:
- Common barriers in recruitment processes
- Practical actions to make recruitment more inclusive
- How bias can affect hiring decisions
- The role of AI in inclusive recruitment
You can sign up to the session HERE
The collaboration between LBU and YABA will also continue into the new academic year with plans for a 2-day employability course and a jobs fair this autumn, as well as a potential mentoring programme. We are excited to continue working together to support the young people of our region, building on our university commitment to our local community as a responsible anchor partner.
For further information or to explore ways the Employer Partnerships and Student Futures team at LBU supports employers, please contact:
Employers@leedsbeckett.ac.uk