Black History Month Can Spark Year-Round FE and Skills Career Revolution says Career Development Institute

Black History month recognises and celebrates the huge contributions of the African and Caribbean diaspora. It’s also a tacit acknowledgement that starting points are uneven and unfair, and that systemic and historic injustices must be held up to the light, so that they can continue to shift in the right direction.

The FE sector is uniquely positioned at the heart of the UK’s skills pipeline, serving as a primary gateway for millions of young people and adults to access qualifications, apprenticeships, and career-enhancing training. For the careers sector, and for professional CDPs, particularly those embedded within FE colleges and training providers, the challenge is to translate this positive focus on Black History into an ongoing commitment to champion Black success through consistently inclusive practice – helping to level-out persistent disparities and fully leverage the diverse and abundant talent within the UK workforce that FE is tasked with developing.

Understanding Why it Matters

The core challenge for CDPs is simple: they must operate within a UK jobs market that, despite huge strides forward, is not yet a level playing field. Inclusive practice is required to ensure that professional career guidance doesn’t unintentionally reinforce existing systemic hurdles for Black students and learners transitioning out of FE.

The Economic Urgency

The figures are startling. Data confirms that the unemployment rate for Black working-age adults frequently runs at more than double that of their White counterparts, and there also remains a shocking underrepresentation of Black executives in senior leadership roles. And this isn’t just a social issue; it represents a significant waste of high-value national talent that the FE sector is working to nurture. CDPs are on the frontline of addressing this disparity and waste of talent.

Reaching the Unseen 30%

The CDI’s Valuing Careers research (2024) confirms a powerful link between career fulfilment and overall life satisfaction – a genuine wellbeing pay-off. Critically, this research also exposed a major fault line: the individuals who face the most significant obstacles in achieving their career goals stand to benefit most from professional career guidance, yet they are least likely to seek it out. By focusing on genuinely inclusive, proactive strategies, we can support these people, helping them find secure and rewarding work. This success delivers a direct dividend in both mental health and economic productivity.

The positive focus of October’s Black History Month has to be converted into real, practical changes in how CDPs deliver guidance every single day of the year, particularly within FE where accessibility is key.

Showcasing Real-World Talent

The simple truth is this: if your resources don’t show it, your clients won’t believe it. Inclusion begins with visibility, and CDPs in FE are strongly encouraged to use the momentum of Black History Month to review their materials and curriculum content.

Scrap the Stereotypes

Ensure all professional resources – from career case studies to inspirational figures – are jam-packed with stories of Black innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders across every relevant field, including STEM, finance, and politics. Crucially, for the FE audience, highlight successful pathways that started in FE, apprenticeships, or vocational training. These narratives of excellence must be integrated seamlessly and consistently throughout the year, demonstrating high-level achievement as a consistent reality.

A Positive Resource Audit

Review all assessment and resource tools to confirm they reflect a positive bias towards inclusion. This means celebrating diverse communication styles, resilience, and leadership expressions, rather than implicitly demanding adherence to a single, narrow cultural norm.

Inclusive Coaching is Empowering

Truly inclusive coaching is bespoke and celebrates the client’s individual reality, moving past generic advice.

Validate and Empower

When a Black client discusses structural barriers, CDPs should validate the reality of that challenge, but be prepared to empower clients and support them to find ways to overcome barriers to their aspirations. Leveraging the client’s internal assets and making use of positive role models can be useful approaches here.

Cultural Capital as an Asset

Help clients identify and articulate the tangible value of their unique lived experience and cultural capital. The high adaptability, resilience, and cross-cultural intelligence honed through navigating complex systems are not secondary traits; they are high-value professional competencies that should be proudly championed in the job market.

Targeting the Best Opportunities

The information CDPs provide about the jobs market- covering salaries, vacancies, and growth sectors – has to be more than just raw facts. It should be presented through the filter of inclusion, transforming information into strategic labour market intelligence that helps clients make smarter choices about where they invest their talent.

Targeting Top Performers

Make sure clients are aware of employers and industries that demonstrate a proven, data-backed commitment to Black staff retention and progression. Informing clients where their talent will be genuinely seen and retained is one of the most crucial forms of strategic advice a CDP can offer, especially for those transitioning from FE to their first career steps.

Data as a Strategy Tool

Use employment disparity data not as a warning, but as a map. By understanding where the gaps are, the client can proactively seek highly targeted mentorship and professional networks to ensure their progression remains unblocked.

Investing in Future Practice

For CDPs, the pursuit of inclusion is a continuous, high-calibre commitment that requires ongoing professional investment.

Focused Learning for Impact

Professional development should move beyond broad diversity training. Instead, concentrate on specialist learning that deepens knowledge, such as the history of Black innovation and work in the UK or advanced coaching techniques for managing subtle cultural complexities. FE staff in particular can benefit from training on how to integrate inclusive careers guidance into the vocational curriculum.

Leading with Optimism

Establish peer learning networks that champion a positive language and celebratory coaching model. This guarantees that every professional interaction leaves the client feeling fundamentally more confident, ambitious, and strategically equipped to achieve their highest career goals.

Ready to move from awareness to action?

Don’t let the momentum of Black History Month fade. Invest in your professional practice now to ensure you’re delivering truly inclusive guidance all year round. The CDI’s CPD programme includes a range of inclusivity-driven events including these CPD Webinars:

October 31, 4pm: Building anti-racist career development ecosystems – Career Development Institute