Apprenticeships as a covert model for allyship

Sometimes it pays to be a poacher...

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My grandad was a poacher. And so am I. He stole rabbits. I do it with concepts. I quite like to poach a concept from one area and apply it in another. It doesn't always work, but sometimes.... sometimes you find something interesting.

I recent attended a learning group to reflect on #allyship, a focused discussion around #inclusion and #diversity where I heard talk about allyship in terms of bold action: speaking up, challenging norms, championing out loud, leading by example and being an 'accomplice' that gives space to others. It was all rather fascinating. We spoke about how it takes courage to be an ally. We spoke about how people can find that hard. And is it any surprise that it's seen as hard? It all sounded quite scary. And quite hard work. Surely we can find places in organisations where allyship is already in operation and use this as a route to achieve our goals? So I got curious about poaching some ideas to find a way to be sneaky. 

So how about using #apprenticeships as a covert model to grow and showcase allyship?

Hear me out

At first glance, apprenticeships are about skills, trades, learning on the job. But if we look closer, they carry within them a powerful model of what genuine allyship can look like inside organisations.

Apprenticeships don’t just teach tasks. They model how to show up for someone else, how to share what you know, and how to stay in someone’s corner as they grow.

Here’s how apprenticeships grow an allyship culture:

1. Proximity Builds Empathy 

At the heart of any apprenticeship is proximity. A more experienced person walks alongside someone newer, not just teaching the tools of the trade, but helping them navigate the culture, the shortcuts, and the unspoken rules. That level of closeness fosters something many DEI programmes struggle to replicate: #empathy born from shared experience.

When someone #mentors an apprentice over weeks or months, they witness more than technical growth. They begin to see what the learner is up against; whether that's a confidence gap, a systemic barrier, or a culture that wasn’t built with them in mind. Closeness builds understanding. Perspectives are shared. Awareness grows.

That awareness, earned through relationship, not just theory, but is a powerful spark for allyship.

2. Power-Sharing in Practice

One of the challenges of operationalising allyship in the workplace is getting people to recognise, and then redistribute, their power. That can feel abstract. But in apprenticeships, it happens all the time.

Mentors give away what they know. They explain how things really work. They open doors and offer chances. They say, “You try,” and step back. This is real-world power-sharing, and it’s done not through charity, but through a structured, mutually understood process.

What if we saw apprenticeships not just as career pathways, but as containers for practising equitable leadership?

3. A Culture Where Vulnerability Is Safe

Another subtle form of allyship is creating spaces where it’s okay to not know. For people from underrepresented backgrounds, that’s not always the case, and making mistakes can feel riskier when you’re already dealing with stereotype threat or imposter syndrome.

But apprenticeships inherently validate the learner’s vulnerability. They assume that people need space to grow, and they provide scaffolding to support that journey. In doing so, they model the kind of environment all of us thrive in: one where learning is normalised and failure doesn’t define you. 

Doesn't that promote a culture rich in allyship?

4. Mutual Learning: The Ally Learns Too

The best apprenticeships aren’t one-way streets. Mentors often say they get as much as they give. They learn from the apprentice about new ways of thinking, fresh perspectives, evolving expectations. They see the world through their eyes. The process enriches them and creates a moment when people come together with impactful outcomes in which everyone can thrive. That reciprocity is at the core of genuine allyship: it’s not saviourism, it’s solidarity. And when done well, apprenticeships are a live rehearsal of that kind of trusting relationship. 

Which means that more mentors means greater allyship.

5. Apprenticeships are Allyship Without the Spotlight

Allyship doesn’t always look like a public declaration. It's a safe commitment. Often, it’s subtle, behind-the-scenes work: advocating in rooms the apprentice isn’t in, creating safety nets, amplifying their contributions without taking credit.

Sound familiar?

It mirrors what happens naturally in a good apprenticeship. The mentor makes room. They introduce the apprentice to their networks. They give them stretch tasks and speak up on their behalf. They model how to show up, and they make space for the apprentice to grow into their own.

These are the same actions we call for in inclusive leadership, only they’re wrapped in the familiar format of “training”.

In this way, apprenticeships become a stealthy delivery vehicle for allyship—embedded, relational, and powerful.

What Does This Mean for Organisations?

The particularly exciting thing about this is that the businesses that often have a strong apprenticeship culture are exactly those that can struggle most with engagement of ''woke inclusion". They start from a sceptical base. In my experience these include traditional male dominated engineering, construction and technical businesses who (by their own admission) often tell me they struggle with the concept of allyship when couched through the #DEI lens. What they don't realise is that they ALREADY have a great culture of allyship when it comes to supporting and developing apprentices. They already have a great skills base on which to build. And if we accept that apprenticeships can serve as a covert model for inclusivity allyship, then we have an opportunity to be more deliberate in how we design and frame them.

These organisations are typically already really good at:

• Pairing people with purpose: Matching apprentices with mentors who are ready to be sponsors and accomplices, not just instructors.

• Training mentors in inclusive practice: They recognise that allowing space for others to thrive requires a certain approach. They don’t assume technical skill equals interpersonal awareness.

• Targeting their focus into the areas of the business where future capability is most important

• Recognising the allyship: They already celebrate the relational work, not just the output.

All of which means they CAN be good at: 

• Using apprenticeship culture as a blueprint: What if all early career development was this relationship-driven and equitable?

• Embracing diverse recruitment to their apprenticeship programme as one way of making a difference and growing an allyship culture. Today's apprentices will be tomorrow's mentors. 

• Growing a culture of allyship!

In the rush to scale new and funky approaches to learning, we sometimes forget the power of old models done with new intentionality. Apprenticeships don’t just teach tasks. They model how to show up for someone else, how to share what you know, and how to stay in someone’s corner as they grow.

Sounds a lot like allyship to me.