Lack Of Diversity In The Creative Sector Is Evident, But What Is Being Done About It?

By Megan O’Neill

Evidence shows that there is a clear lack of ethnic diversity in the creative industry, but what can be, or is already being done to reduce the lack of diversity?

Creative Access highlights that a diverse workforce allows boundaries to be pushed and businesses can absorb new ideas and perspectives. This is critical within the creative industry as these representations are being broadcast to the masses. Creative Access asks, “how can the media reflect society, if society is not reflected in the media?”. 

Studies by the Brixton Finishing School have concluded that employment in the creative industry has grown three times faster than the national average in the past seven years. Despite this, only 10.9% of vacancies are filled by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) candidates, while 13.8% of the UK population are from a minority background. Similar diversity issues are present with gender too, as the creative industry is losing up to 50% of qualified females to other roles such as education. 

The Creative Industries Council (CIC) have released a charter designed to drive diversity across the UK and have established eight areas that aim to create a more diverse workplace. Collecting relevant and meaningful data on inclusion and diversity, engaging with leaders within the creative sector, promoting strategies to diversify mid and senior level hiring, and reporting progress regularly to the government are just a number of ways the CIC aim to improve diversity in the workplace, or at least ways to address and progress with diversity. 

BIMA, the industry body for the digital industry, have also recognised the huge diversity issue within the creative industry and the need for change. “This is not just failing our talent stream or our workplace, this is failing our clients… Diversity isn’t just a tick box exercise; it’s a necessary means of bringing in a plurality of new ideas and understanding”, BIMA say.

They state various factors that could impact the reason for the lack of diversity, the first being cost of equipment. The start-up cost of equipment and digital software that is necessary for building skills are expensive so people from lower socio-economic backgrounds would be disadvantaged with this expense. Being able to afford this would certainly give individuals, from a wealthier background, a head start into the industry.

Another huge part of the creative industry comes from unpaid internships and freelance work. Again, candidates from lower socio-economic backgrounds may struggle with these unpaid, unstructured roles which will impact their entry to the creative industry.

The second factor being the lack of role models in the industry. People in the creative industry are 50% more likely to have a parent or family member working in the same industry. With a lack of role models in the industry to help with contacts and connections, minority groups and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are likely to face disadvantages when trying to enter the creative workforce.

So what is being done to fix the problem?

It is clear that there is a lack of diversity in the creative sector, and there are barriers that prevent certain groups of people entering the workplace. So, what is being done about it?

The Brixton Finishing School, and BIMA alike, note that education is key for change. Schools must address these diversity issues and “provide opportunities to help students find their passion and facilitate their development regardless of their background” BIMA say. Surveys found that state schools have seen a 21% decrease in music provision in the past five years (2014-2019) compared to a 7% increase in independent schools. This immediately highlights that individuals who attend state schools are more disadvantaged when it comes to resources in the arts department than people who attend independent schools.  

The Big Creative Education (BCE) have shown great success with their courses. BCE have been running for 20-years and are the largest creative college in London, with two additional organisations Big Creative Academy (BCA) and Big Creative Training (BCT). With several campuses, apprenticeships, training programmes, free creative workshops and more, the BCE are proving to be very valuable: with 95% of students progressing to University, starting their own business, or securing employment in the creative sector. A 2017 report shows that BCA had around 250 students, 136 of whom received financial support, and the majority of the students comparatively low GCSE grades.

Sacha Corcoran MBE, principal of BCE, says “our focus on celebrating diversity, championing everybody, and our continued work as a DfE practice school for LGBT+ provides a place for everybody to come, learn and immerse themselves in a creative environment”.

Ofsted reports conclude that BCE are highly committed to their mission to improve the opportunities for disadvantaged young people by providing support for students that receive high funding. One way that BCE try to break down entry barriers is by creating contacts with various broadcasters. In recent years, the BCE have provided visits to Sky, BBC, and Universal Music, as well as a private gig with British rapper Stormzy.

Undoubtedly, programmes such as this will be highly beneficial to minority groups and people from lower socio-economic groups to reach their full potential in the creative industry. 

While there is still a long way to go, there are several other organisations addressing the inequalities. The Other Box is a company that provides head-on interviews and events to showcase creative talents at all levels of the industry.

We Are the Stripes are another UK-based community that support members with mentors, workshops, and training programmes to create a more representative and diverse creative industry.

The Girlhood supports young women of all ethnicities and backgrounds to get into the creative industry. They aim for a “richer mix” of women in the creative industry by offering courses and training. These are just three of the many organisations in place to tackle the disadvantages that are faced when entering the creative industry, showing that we are taking the right steps for a positive change.

To be able to truly address the diversity in the creative sector, barriers in education must be tackled to make entry into the industry fair and accessible to all, regardless of background. Collaborations with government funding for schools and the creative industry itself will need to be enforced to help facilitate the change and ensure that socio-economic or racial backgrounds are not factors for preventing someone being employed. 

The COVID-19 lockdown has made many people furloughed, redundant and/or unemployed. As we come out the other side, it will be interesting to see how effective these strategies are at getting people in minority groups – including those with a lower-socioeconomic background – back into the creative sector.