New report shows clear lack of diversity and representation in creative and cultural industries leadership

Data shows ‘worrying underrepresentation’ of women, people from working class and ethnic minority backgrounds, and disabled people in creative sector leadership – with Creative UK calling for change 

 

Download the full report here: https://hubs.ly/Q03HX0PJ0

 

Today, Thursday 11 September, a new report from Creative UK – the national membership body for the cultural and creative industries – sets out significant gaps in leadership diversity across the cultural and creative industries.  

Where data exists, it shows that no diverse demographic – other than those identifying as LGB+ – has fair, equal representation in creative and cultural sector leadership.  

The report, entitled Leadership Diversity in the Creative & Cultural Industries, brings together existing data  from a range of sources – including Arts Council England’s (ACE) National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs), Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC), and Creative Diversity Network’s Diamond reports.. 

Published today, the report represents the first time existing data has been pooled and presented in this way: mapping leadership representation for key groups, including women, disabled people, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and those who identify as working class. It is only in viewing this data together that the pervasive sense of underrepresentation in creative and cultural sector leadership becomes clear. 

Key findings include: 

Women in leadership roles  

• Despite accounting for over 48% of the UK workforce, women occupied just 21% of Director/CEO roles and 30% of managerial roles in the UK games industry; 

• They account for 25% of managerial roles across the design sector, and in designer fashion, take up just 39% of executive teams ; 

• There are also significantly fewer women musicians earning a living through music for over 30 years compared to male musicians – 20% vs 30%. 

Leaders from ethnic minority backgrounds 

• People from an ethnic minority heritage make up 15.9% of the currently employed UK workforce yet just over 9.8% of managers and directors were from ethnic minority backgrounds across the entire cultural sector.  

• Just 6% of those occupying higher level managerial, administrative and professional occupations in the heritage sector are from an ethnic minority background. 

• Just 12% of executive or corporate roles in film & TV are held by ethnic minorities, alongside just 9% of senior-level roles, and only 7%, 8% and 11% of senior management in VFX, Animation, and Post-production were from ethnic minority backgrounds.  

• Only 11% of C-suite positions in Advertising were occupied by people from ethnic minorities. 

• People from an ethnic minority background held only 6% of Director/CEO positions in the games industry and 10% of managerial positions. 

• People from an ethnic minority background held just 9% of executive and board positions in the designer fashion industry. 

 

Creative Industries and disabled leaders 

• Disabled people make up 18% of the UK workforce, but just over 7.7% of managers and directors in the cultural sector identified as disabled; 

• Just 8% of senior off-screen TV roles are occupied by those with a disability along with just 6.5% of UK based film & TV directors; 

• Only 4% of Directors/CEOs and 3% of managerial staff identified as having a disability in the video games industry; 

• In advertising, of those in C-suite positions, only 9% identified as disabled.  

 

Working class representation at leadership level 

• Across the wider economy, working class people make up 35% of the workforce. Yet only 17% of UK based film & TV directors are from working class backgrounds; 

• Only 10% of video game company Directors/CEOs and 12% of Managerial staff were from a working-class background; 

• And just 17% of C-suite level roles in advertising are held by those from working class backgrounds.  

  

More quality data is needed to complete the picture – and Creative UK has committed to building on this work. 

 

It forms part of Creative UK’s theory for change – which proposes that an increase in the diversity of leadership is the key catalyst for diversifying the sector’s workforce.  

 

On the back of today’s findings – Creative UK has made several clear recommendations for improving the landscape, including improved diversity data collection across the sector, the need to introduce – and track – long-term progression pipelines, and a call to ensure public investment is conditional on inclusive governance. There is also a call to build the economic case for diverse leadership. 

Commenting on the report, Caroline Norbury OBE, Chief Executive of Creative UK, said: “Building an inclusive and diverse workforce is a top priority for Creative UK – and this report is an important step on our journey, as we collectively work to improve the landscape across the cultural and creative industries. 

“Greater equity is the key to our social and economic growth, and it’s disappointing that we haven’t seen change yet. But to begin any journey of change, we need to know where we are starting from. In laying out the data in this way, this publication is a line in the sand from which we must build from. There is still much work for our sector to do to be truly representative – and it is vital that we prioritise it together.” 

 

Sarah Gregory, Head of Equality Diversity & Inclusion at Creative UK said: “It has never been clearer that the lack of diversity in the creative and cultural industries has become a direct threat to the sector’s growth and sustainability.  

“It is equally clear that the most effective drivers for change come from the top. By purposefully setting out to increase the diversity of the sector’s strategic and creative leadership we can all reap the benefits that greater diversity across the creative and cultural sector can bring.” 

Stella Kanu, Chief Executive, Shakespeare’s Globe, said: “This report is both a wake-up call and a toolkit for action. It’s telling us that interventions work, pipelines matter, and diverse leadership is an innovation driver. What is exceptional in its conclusion is that the business case is clearer than ever.  

Diversity isn’t just about fairness, it’s also about innovation, audience growth, and economic success. Organisations that step up now — with intention, care, and courage — will be best equipped to attract future talent, secure funding, and thrive in the ever changing landscape in which we work.” 

 

Tom Kiehl, Chief Executive, UK Music, said: “UK Music is committed to improving diversity across the music industry’s workforce, to ensure that it is truly representative of this great creative country that we live in.  

“Leadership is a key to unlocking change, which is why we have consistently tracked diversity at the top of organisations and businesses for a number of years. There is much deeper work that the industry can do however, which we are taking forward with our Board and Diversity Taskforce.” 

 

Sharon Lloyd Barnes, Commercial Director and Inclusion Lead, Advertising Association added: “This new report underlines just how much more work there is to do for the leadership across the creative industries to be fully representative of the UK as it is today. It’s vital we track progress around talent and inclusion through rich data sets on an ongoing basis and we’re proud to provide the insights from our All In Census initiative.  

 

“Our data, gathered from 50,000 participants from across the advertising industry, has shaped an industry action plan and delivered marked improvement in both representation and experience for some underrepresented groups. We know collective effort can make positive progress – we just need to keep pushing forward and this report helps us do that.” 

 

 

Notes to Editors 

About Creative UK: Creative UK is the national membership body for the Cultural and Creative Industries. We exist to champion creativity in its widest form – representing world-leading organisations from sectors as diverse as advertising, animation, architecture, broadcasting, crafts, design, digital, education, fashion, games, heritage, museums, music, performing arts, photography, publishing, theatre, TV, visual art and more.    

We are an independent not-for-profit, which uses the insight and experience of our members, partners and the businesses we work with to help shape relevant government policy and advocate for meaningful social and economic change right across the UK.   

Our vision is a world where creativity is valued and recognised as the driving force for our future. We’re so passionate about this that we put our money where our mouth is: through own landmark investment funds, we’ve directly invested millions of pounds into creative businesses over the last decade.    

Our team is based across the UK, and we work closely with Local and Combined Authorities to support creative talent, whilst delivering hands-on support – spanning business diagnostics, mentoring and investment readiness.   

Our Filming in England service is a dedicated and bespoke production service to feature film and high-end TV productions looking to film in England, outside of London.