The conclusion that the creatve industries far from echo the general U.K. population was reached in a new report, billed as the first sociological study on social mobility in the cultural industries, reports The Guardian and others.
The report, called “Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries” demonstrates that women, those from working class origins, and those from minority backgrounds, are often excluded from many creative industries. “This may not come as a huge surprise to many, with diversity being a much-discussed topic across the arts in recent years,” the Creative Review reports, continuing:
“What is more insightful is how the report analyses the dynamics of social mobility in the cultural sector, and offers insights into how the tastes, values and political views are often different from the rest of society. Cultural workers are shown to be socially exclusive, for example, tending to mainly know other creatives, to the exclusion of many other occupations. They come from disproportionately economically privileged backgrounds, and have the most liberal and left-wing politics of any occupational sector.”
‘If you think the creative industries should speak for a nation or a community then this report raises big questions,’ says Dr David O’Brien, one of its three lead authors, to Frieze.
Dr O’Brien told Rhinegold Publishing that their analysis “suggests that arts and media workers need to better understand the role of privilege in the formation of cultural tastes and success in creative employment, so that their industries can become more in touch with the rest of the population.”
The Panic report is a follow-up to research published in 2015, has been released by Create London and Arts Emergency, a charity set up to challenge the “old boys’ network” in the creative industries.