Arts Council England (ACE) has determined their approach following qualitative research with ACE鈥檚 funded organisations and their staff, conducted by Dr Susan Oman. Susan鈥檚 findings and recommendations reflect Cabinet Office advice and practice in other domains when measuring social mobility and class of the workforce.
Simon Mellor, Deputy Chief Executive, Arts Council England said: 鈥淭here is a growing body of evidence that people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are under-represented in publicly funded culture. This is a significant concern both to the Arts Council and the organisations that we invest in.
鈥淕athering better data about the backgrounds of those who currently work in our National Portfolio is an important step in understanding the scale of the problem and helping us to consider what steps we can all take to challenge the barriers that people face in entering and progressing in our industry.鈥
Arts Council England acknowledge that Susan Oman鈥檚 research has changed their equality monitoring policy and the sector鈥檚 data practices, with the Directors thanking Susan publicly for her impact. These changes and the new measure were launched today, with the broadcast of a panel interview, featuring .
Susan added: 鈥淚f understanding inequality is an issue of social justice, then the way we ask questions about people鈥檚 identity and background must be done with care. This means understanding how data collection works for everyone 鈥 across the sector and in different contexts.
鈥淭he research engaged with thousands of people who work in arts organisations, from someone working in the caf茅 or a star actor, both required to complete equality monitoring forms, as well as the person collecting the data, and submitting it in aggregate to the Arts Council.鈥
Related publications, including the Policy Briefing can be found and more information on Susan鈥檚 broader research can be found on the Living With Data website鈥檚