St Mary’s University Shortlisted for the 2021 National Undergraduate Employability Awards

St Mary's University, Twickenham's Be SMART initiative has been shortlisted for the 2021 National Undergraduate Employability (NUE) Awards.

St Mary’s University is delighted to have been chosen as one of the five finalists for the Best Widening Participation category for the Be SMART initiative. This award recognises the 'incredible efforts universities go to in creating a widening participation initiative to support and develop students’ employability opportunities'. 

Be SMART was launched by our Employability Services team in August 2019, with the aim of facilitating access for undergraduate students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds to opportunities and resources to enhance their personal and professional development, including internships and mentoring. 

Data consistently shows that BAME graduates experience greater inequalities in relation to securing graduate level roles and employment – recent HESA UK data shows BAME graduates are 8% more likely to be unemployed compared to white graduates. (HESA UK).

Yasmina Mallam-Hassam, Head of Employability Services said "This is an amazing achievement for St Mary’s and is testament to the talent of the students we have here and the commitment, creativity and resilience of the staff and external contributors who delivered Be SMART during a very challenging time".

The winner will be chosen by a judging panel and announced during the online awards ceremony on 25^th February.