The challenge
In early 2023, BCS released new criteria for its prestigious Fellow membership, of which I coordinated the creation of. While the revised framework was designed to better reflect modern interpretations of an 'IT professional', applicants struggled to present their experience in a way that highlighted their leadership and influence skills and often spoke in the collective, making it challenging to discern their role in the case studies they submitted.
My intervention
I led the design and delivery of a targeted intervention to improve the quality, inclusivity and scalability of the route to Fellowship. I developed a three-part, activity-based webinar series aimed at demystifying the criteria and guiding applicants through every step, from assessing their own readiness for Fellowship to crafting a high-quality submission.
These webinars acted as research to identify the common pitfalls experienced, which I could then weave into a more long-term sustainable approach to the training. I transformed the webinars into a self-paced online learning programme with practical, step-by-step exercises covering all the challenges that had been relayed by webinar attendees. As a failsafe, I built in online monthly group mentoring sessions led by an assessor to facilitate a Q&A with those on the programme. I also produced a series of video interviews with existing Fellows discussing how they'd put the criteria into practice throughout their career, making the abstract tangible, and helping future applicants to visualise themselves in the Fellowship criteria.
The outcome
The impact was immediate. The imporved quality of applications was very apparent and diversity began to improve, with more women seeing themselves in the criteria and having the confidence to apply. The feedback from all those completing the masterclass was positive. This initiative not only improved application quality but also laid the groundwork for a diverse and ongoing pipeline of future Fellows.