Happy not having it all

Reading Kira Cochrane’s article on the low levels of female representation in the media, I was reminded – though it’s never far from my mind, if I’m honest – of the various similar conversations I have had with people about women in the arts.

The general consensus I have found is that women are, by far, the more numerous in arts administration and management, but the very senior posts and roles are taken by men. Talking to women colleagues and acquaintances, this impression would seem to be borne out, and a quick Twitter poll elicited the following quotes: ‘IMO women do the organising, men get to be creatives!’ and ‘Women dominate workforce, men dominate most snr positions’.

I decided to do a bit of research to see if these anecdotes held out.

Creative Blueprint published a number of sector-specific reports in 2010 (from 06-07 data). These findings state that whilst the number of women working in the arts is growing, women are still outnumbered by men and are earning less. a-n’s report Making a Living as an Artist supported this in its finding that the mean annual salary in the arts is £23,492 for men and £19,344 for women. It also picked up on the nuances of the hours of the working arts week and earning potential for women.

The ACE What is the Creative Case for diversity? report concluded that there is a need to uncover female artists from the past and that the arts has barriers to inclusion to many minority/underrepresented groups, women being just one of them. ACE’s NPO Equality Impact Assessment also shows the percentage of women employed dropping the further up the pay scale you go.

Clore’s Women in leadership in the creative and cultural sector report identified that in 2008 there were two-and-a-half male leaders to every one female leader. It also found that, despite the fact women in the sector were more qualified than men, women were outnumbered by men in the most senior roles and that only 75% of women in senior leadership positions wanted to stay in them, compared to 100% of men. Importantly, the report asks if this is an issue of confidence or whether it’s the ‘have it all’ factor.

In my own career, I have worked mostly with women, at all levels of an organisation; lots and lots in administration and entry-level posts, lots again in middle management, and a smaller number as directors and senior management. It is very common for me to be working in all-women teams, with female founders of organisations and directors of projects, and my contact book reflects the notion that the arts workforce is populated principally by women. Tech and support teams have tended to be male, although not predominantly, and I have worked with a lot of men at the beginnings of their careers. But by far the most men I encounter are senior management and up.

Whilst it’s a reality for many to balance work and family life, is the gender imbalance evident really down to women in the arts wanting to ‘have it all’? To me this is a hackneyed and spurious notion and one that is potentially dangerous, as it could be masking myriad factors that are thus being left unnoticed or acted upon. Not least that not all women in the arts have or want children – where does the debate leave them?

Is this a wider arts sector culture issue? And what do we want to do with this information, if anything?