Research
A large amount of research exists on the implications of a diverse workforce on business and the implications for business of their diverse customers and workforces. The selected articles, studies and statistics here may be of help if you want to explore some of the evidence.
If you'd like to suggest some research be listed on the site please contact info@ukmusic.org.
Creative and Cultural Skills' Music Impact and Footprint
Creative and Cultural Skills publish a document on the sector called the 'Music Impact and Footprint'. This gives some statistics about the diversity of the sector. The most recent edition covers 2008-9. These are the only estimates of the demographics of the music sector, and as such are a useful indication of where we are. However there are a few doubts about the accuracy of the figures. The SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes on which they are based are notoriously unreliable for the creative sector. Some of the detail of the estimates does not triangulate with industry's own figures and qualitative evidence for the sub-sectors or region. However it is a useful document.
Creative and Cultural Skills Music Impact and Footprint
BIS - Women on Boards
One of the most high profile recent reports on Equality was Mervyn Davies' (Lord Davies of Abersoch) report into Women on corporate boards. In 2010 Women made up only 12.5% of FTSE 100 boards (up from 9.4% in 2004), and the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests that at the current rate it will take another 70 years to achieve gender balanced boardrooms. The report recommends a target of 25% by 2015. It ultimately rejected the setting of a quota for women on boards, as has recently been introduced in Norway, however it suggests that Government reserves the right to take action "if the business-led approach does not achieve considerable change". There are a number of interesting strategies in the report that indicate how more women could be developed for board positions, particularly looking at the 'pipeline challenge' of how to develop senior women for board roles, and barriers to potential board members. There is also an overview of the approach of international competitors on this issue.
Strategic HR Review - Reaping Benefits from Diversity
Andrea Broughton and Marie Strebler wrote this article in 2008 looking at good practice in diversity manageement in IBM, Jaguar Land Rover and Scope as examples. They found that senior management buy in was key in developing a policy that attracted top talent, and examied how the companies implemented their policies and assessed the impact.
Other interesting Academic articles include:
Facilitating talent selection decisions in the music industry; M. Siefert and A.L. Hadida; Management Decision (2006) Vol 44, Issue 6.
Delivering gender diversity: beyond the business case; S. Churchman and C. Thompson; Strategic HR Review (2008) Vol 7, Issue 5.
A preliminary review of competitive reactions in the hip-hop music industry: Black American enterpreneurs in a new industry; V.C. Edmondson; Management Research News (2008) Vol 31, Issue 9.
The steady rise of CSR and diversity in the workplace; M. Emmott and D. Worman; Strategic HR Review (2008) Vol 7, Issue 5.
Abstracts available on emeraldinsight.com
Arts Council England (2011) Creative Case for Diversity
Arts Council England had previously operated Equality schemes on Race, Gender and Disability. They have repositioned this work, and their 10 year vision 'Achieving Great Art for Everyone' now focuses on the Creative Case for diversity, which they launched in November 2011. In the context of difficult times for the economy and for the arts, it sets out how diversity can be way to increase the 'adaptive resilience' of organisations, making them less vulnerable to unexpected change. The paper is a short but interesting read, and very useful for understanding diversity not only from a business point of view, but also from the point of view of the artist and in terms of creativity.
Arts Council England - The Creative Case for Diversity