Futureproofing the Institution: Social Mobility and Accessibility

This webinar will look at the importance of fairness, accessibility, and social mobility in today’s society including how we engage with where the world is going, what the Covid-19 impact is to date and how we make events, meetings and professional membership accessible to all. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers has launched a series of webinars focusing on diversity and inclusion in engineering. The first webinar on 19 June 2020 was driven by the Yorkshire Region focussing on women in engineering as part of International Women in Engineering Day (INWED). It was noted in many papers and reports from both Government and charities that social mobility is a growing crisis. However, there is a fear that the COVID-19 pandemic might have deepened this crisis as it significantly affected our lives, in particular lives of young people and people without access to financial and social support systems. Panel Discussion participants: Maira Bana, Chartered Engineer, Future Facilities (Chair) Sarah Crossan, Aspiring Professionals Programme Coordinator, The Social Mobility Foundation Emma Diserens: Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Engineering UK Chrisma Jain, Senior Project Manager, Transport for London Pierre French, Visiting Professor in the School of Computing and Engineering at the University of Huddersfield