Social Mobility: How to Break the Link Between Background and Opportunity (Joe Seddon)

Joe Seddon, founder of Zero Gravity, thinks “geography is destiny
in the UK” which is why he has built a tech platform to do
something about it.


In this week’s episode, Amol and Joe dig into the barriers facing
young people across the country, from stalled social mobility to
uneven access to opportunity.


Growing up in a single‑parent household in Morley, West
Yorkshire, he went on to study at the University of Oxford, but
he thinks those opportunities are still too rare for people from
a similar background. That’s why his platform connects people
from low-opportunity areas with top universities and employers.


But Joe argues that there needs to be “radical transparency” in
how university degrees are advertised so people know the value of
the course they’re applying to.


And in a blunt message to ambitious people from disadvantaged
backgrounds, he admits that the economic reality means that “you
should think seriously about leaving your hometown.”


TIMECODES


(00:03:46) Social mobility in the UK


(00:11:24) The impact of AI on social mobility


(00:16:49) Can government policy improve social mobility?


(00:18:14) The broken social contract for Gen Z


(00:21:00) Student loan repayments


(00:27:24) Are too many people going to university?


(00:30:49) Joe’s RADICAL ideas


(00:36:19) Joe’s journey from West Yorkshire to Oxford University


(00:40:37) Accent bias


(00:46:55) Why “geography is destiny” in the UK


(00:54:36) What is Zero Gravity?


(01:36:44) Amol’s reflections


GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday
and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan
Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.
He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before
that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The
Independent.


Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis
Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel
Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by James Piper. The
editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.