Introducing our Ethical Careers Policy

We understand the impact our students and graduates have on the world and recognise our role in shaping responsible leaders of the future.

Our new Ethical Careers Policy sets out how we are supporting students to learn about and access careers that make a positive contribution to addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and align with our BU strategic goals.

At its core, the new policy empowers the BU community to consider their social responsibility and impact on their community and the environment. It also helps us prepare students for the complexities and ethical challenges that they may face in the workplace by enabling students to identify and understand their own values and relate these to possible careers. The policy explores our commitments to:

• Active promotion – we will only actively promote careers and careers-related opportunities with employers and third parties with strong ethical credentials. This means we will not actively promote or feature those organisations that contribute to the detrimental effects of the fossil fuels, arms, and tobacco industries. More information about what we mean by actve promotion is detailed in our policy.

• Due diligence – we are committed to screening all opportunities and organisations seeking to advertise to students via our BU platforms. We reserve the right to reject and investigate if a concern remains about the ethical credentials of the organisation.

• Pay – we reserve the right to reject placement requests where we believe an organisation is taking an unethical approach to pay. We will only actively promote organisations who have a commitment to and track record of fair pay for students and graduates, including on placement.

• Event sustainability – we are committed to aligning any careers events with internal standards and guidance for event sustainability and encourage third parties and employers to respect BU’s guidance.

When recommending organisations, placements or employers please take into consideration whether they align with our new policy principles and encourage your students to be curious about whether the organisation’s values matches their own.

You can read the full Ethical Careers Policy on the BU website. You can also find out more about BU’s commitments to the SDG’s on our sustainability webpages.