Great Britain: aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce seeks talent from neurodivergent cohorts

Rolls-Royce is looking for the best undergraduate student with a neurodivergent condition such as autism, hyperactivity, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. The engine manufacturer, which sponsors several categories within the annual ‘Undergraduate of the Year Awards’, has just created a new award entitled ‘Undergraduate of the Year Award Celebrating Neurodiverse Talent.’ The winner, who is yet to graduate and whose name will be revealed in April, will receive, among other things, a 10-week paid internship with Rolls-Royce in the summer of 2022. Ellie Long, early careers business partner at Rolls-Royce notes, “As Elon Musk, Emma Watson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Simone Biles and many others have shown, neurodiverse people experience and approach things in a very different way (…), continuing, “They approach tasks and problems from new angles, offer more balanced views and apply their strengths and attributes to their role differently. We’ve got to stop thinking about ‘them’ and ‘us’ when it comes to neurodiversity – we need to recognise and celebrate neurodiversity for the wonderful opportunities it presents to us in the workplace and for society at large.” A 2020 study by the Institute of Leadership & Management estimated that half of UK bosses and managers do not want to hire from ‘neurodiverse’ cohorts. Yet, according to statistics communicated by the ACAS arbitration service, 1 in 7 people in the UK are said to be ‘neurodivergent,’ meaning that ‘the brain functions, learns and processes information differently.’