‘Institutional change’ needed to boost creative sector diversity

The creative workforce continues to be dominated by graduates and there is huge inequality of gender, ethnicity and social class across creative higher education courses and job prospects, a parliamentary report has found.

The Making the Creative Majority report, published by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Creative Diversity, says attempts to address the situation by higher education bodies and government currently centre on encouraging underrepresented groups to apply to creative courses instead of targeting institutional change.

It calls for a shift in focus, moving the responsibility for ensuring a more diverse creative economy back to government and higher education institutions.

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Research conducted for the report found that while a degree will not guarantee a job in a creative occupation, people are "unlikely" to get one without it. 

It also found that Black and Asian students are less likely to study a creative subject at university than their white peers, and white men with no disabilities who graduate with creative degrees are much more likely to get creative jobs than any of their peers.

'Class crisis'

Meanwhile, potential students of working class origin have worse applications-to-offers and offers-to-acceptances ratios than any other social group. Researchers found the issue was most pronounced in Russell Group universities compared with post-1992 universities.

Despite the majority of students studying creative subjects in the data analysed being women, they are less likely to have creative jobs than men when they enter the labour market.

"The underrepresentation of individuals from global majority backgrounds, the clear class crisis, and gender disparities highlight an urgent call-to-action. If we are to remain a creative nation, systemic change is not just necessary but absolutely vital," the report states.

The report calls on government to urgently revise creative and cultural education provision across primary and secondary education and local communities.

It recommends that the DCMS and DfE establish a task force to build on the government’s forthcoming review of creative education.

Additionally, higher education institutions and the Office for Students (OfS) are called upon to develop a targeted widening participation framework for creative higher education.

They should also consider the use of contextual admissions, whereby universities consider potential barriers applicants face when deciding whether to offer them a place on a course.

Systemic change

Chi Onwurah MP, Co-Chair of the APPG for Creative Diversity, said the report highlights both challenges and opportunities.

"This report critically sets out ‘What Works’ to begin building a more equitable creative education system for those aged 16+ and to dismantling the obstacles facing the next generation of creative talent," she said.

Beatrice Pembroke, Executive Director of Culture at King’s College London, which alongside University of the Arts London, University of Manchester and the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre were research partners for the report, said there needs to be more sustainable and equitable entry paths into the sector. 

"This research should be seen as a call-to-action, as the findings clearly show that efforts to widen participation and pathways into HE are currently not resulting in a more diverse workforce," she said.

"I hope that the vital recommendations made in this report will help provide a useful guide for those with the power to make the necessary structural changes – from policymakers and creative organisations to businesses and educational institutions – that will have long lasting impact that benefits us all.”