Heritage sector ‘facing challenges in diversity and inclusion’, survey finds

The heritage sector is experiencing low levels of ethnic diversity and social mobility, according to the findings of Historic England’s first Heritage Sector Workforce Diversity survey.

Published today (10 December), a report into the findings features 546 responses from an online survey conducted between April and June this year, as well as details from online interviews that took place in July.

A statement from Historic England says the findings “collectively paint a picture of a sector facing challenges in diversity and inclusion, particularly in areas of ethnic representation, disability employment and social mobility”.

90% of respondents described their ethnicity as white.

The report says sample numbers in the survey for ethnicities other than white were very low, making analysis of ethnicity and other variables difficult, but it adds the lack of diversity was particularly pronounced at higher levels of management, with no respondents identifying as Black.

Less than 10% of respondents reported having a parent or caregiver who worked in routine or semi-routine manual and service occupations. The report says this indicates limited social mobility in the sector and points towards potential barriers to entry for individuals from working-class backgrounds.

The survey found almost 20% of the heritage workforce identifies as disabled, slightly below the national average of 24%. A higher-than-average representation of neurodivergence was uncovered, with a quarter of respondents identifying as neurodivergent compared to the estimated national average of 15%.

Elsewhere in the survey, two-thirds (67%) of respondents said they held full-time permanent contracts, though this figure drops considerably for disabled employees, with only half holding such positions.

The report suggests that more than half the workforce (56%) is between 25 and 44 years old, while women comprise two-thirds (66%) of respondents.

Planned actions

Historic England says it is planning targeted projects and programmes to support the sector in making heritage careers more accessible and heritage organisations more inclusive.

“We believe that an inclusive heritage sector is a resilient heritage sector, one which better represents and addresses the needs and concerns of society and is relevant to a greater number of people,” said Sean Curran, Historic England’s head of inclusive heritage.

“This pilot survey will help us build an action plan for identifying ways to support the sector to become more diverse.”

The organisation says it will arrange a series of roundtable discussions, bringing together individuals from underrepresented groups within the sector to understand the importance of lived experience.

It will also work with partners within and outside the heritage sector to identify existing support and resources for underrepresented groups.

Historic England says it intends to conduct follow-up surveys every two years to track progress.

Demographic data

Some of Historic England’s findings correlate with demographic data from other bodies elsewhere within the culture sector.

In May, a report from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre used census data to document the demographics of the arts, culture and heritage workforce and found that 90% of people working across the sector are white, compared with 85% of the general workforce.

Arts Council England which, like Historic England, is an executive non-departmental public body of Department of Culture, Media and Sport, has been reporting on representation in its portfolio organisations for nearly a decade.

In its most recent Equality, Diversity and Inclusion report, covering 2021-2022, published in January this year, across a constant sample of 705 organisations, the workforce was found to be 43% women – an annual fall of 3% – while 13% were Black, Asian and ethnically diverse, a yearly increase of 1%.

In November, ACE said it would review how it analyses and publishes diversity data following a slowdown in its reporting.

Meanwhile, UK Music’s workforce diversity survey, released in June, found that the proportion of Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse employees in the music sector increased from 21% in 2022 to 25.2% in 2024.