Gender equity in the UK’s creative sectors will not be reached until 2085 if progress continues at the current rate, according to a report by the Gender Equity Policy (GEP) Analysis project.
However, it could be 20 years sooner than that in the German film industry which could achieve gender equity in 2041. But in Canada, it will be another 200 years (2215).
The report compared gender equity policies in the film sector across the UK, Germany and Canada.
Gender equity policies have Increased since 2013/14 but more work is still to be done to ensure policies are intersectional, sustainable and consider both short- and longer-term impacts. “Women need access to influential positions within the film industry, not just to the industry overall,” noted policy analyst Doris Ruth Eikhof at the University of Glasgow.
The project, entitled Re-Framing the Picture, was carried out by academics who analysed more than 12,000 films from 34 countries, supported by the Eurimages fund, between 2010-2020. Industry data, policy analysis and interviews with industry experts were analysed.
No man left behind
Their findings included evidence that the number of men in key creative positions has not fallen at the expense of representation for women and gender minorities – gains have occurred as a consequence of industry expansion as opposed to men leaving roles.
However, the report also uncovered that men in key creative roles disproportionately or exclusively work with other men. Modelling simulated “what if” scenarios, the project discovered that different countries must take different approaches to tackle issues like these. For example, eliminating all-male teams was most effective at redistributing power in the UK and Canada but not in Germany.
“Simply preventing men from dominating at the team level does not necessarily disrupt men’s dominant positions in the industry overall. All that happens is we get fewer men with relatively more power,” network analysis expert Deb Verhoeven at the University of Alberta, Canada, said.
“Improving the number of women and people who identify as gender minorities in the industry is critical, but we also need strategies that disrupt men’s behaviours such as the predominant tendency for men to collaborate with other men, a major gender disparity in the formation of professional networks.”