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A workforce for all - NTU and strategic partner Refinitiv tackle social mobility and gender inequality in technology

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) alongside strategic partners Refinitiv are delivering a new, comprehensive guest lecturing, insight and work experience programme with the aim of raising the aspirations of both female students and students from low-income (widening participation) households to work in financial technology.

    Students taking part in the Refinitiv lecture

    Refinitiv, a global financial technology and data business, are sending a delegation of experienced colleagues and recent graduates to impart their industry knowledge to over 800 science and technology students through an extensive in-curriculum lecture series covering a variety of topics from data science to professional skills.  

    Students are also given the unique opportunity to hear from Refinitiv’s world-leading industry experts in the form of keynote ‘Strategic Partnership Lectures’, learning everything from ground-breaking technology trends through to hearing speakers’ own inspirational personal career journeys. 

    Widening participation (WP) students and female students are then invited to attend ‘Insight Days’ at Refinitiv’s national technology centre in Nottingham. These insight days aim to provide students from underrepresented backgrounds with an overview of the opportunities available to them within the financial technologies sector, regardless of individual circumstance. Students are given the opportunity to develop the ambition and determination required to become the next generation of ‘Women-in-Tech’, or match and surpass the levels of success afforded to their non-widening participation peers.

    Select WP and female students are also given the opportunity to experience a day’s work experience at Refinitiv, and have the opportunity to put into action the practical skills learnt throughout their studies in three distinct areas of the $1bn business.
    As this collaboration continues to grow, Refinitiv and NTU plan to create a core group of alumni ambassadors to reach out and inspire the next generation of women and WP students, and school children, to work in technology in Nottingham.

    Christopher Leishman, Strategic Partnerships Manager at NTU says, “The University is passionate about providing opportunities to students from low-income backgrounds and to promoting women in STEM. The scale and depth of Refinitiv’s investment in NTU is quite unique and we are delighted to deliver such an extensive range of activities for our students through this strategic partnership with one of the world’s largest financial technologies organisations.”

    You can read more about our strategic partnership within Professionl and Public Services on our website.