‘Reacting to the announcement of 2024’s Class Pay Gap Day, Yasmin Hemmings, who oversees support programmes for individuals from under-represented backgrounds at social enterprise Creative Access, explains the pay gap is even more acute for ethnically diverse talent.
According to Creative Access research, almost half (48%) of ethnically diverse professionals surveyed report socio-economic bias in hiring and promotions, double that of their white counterparts (24%). A further 40% feel overlooked in their careers due to class, versus 30% of white working class professionals.
“This stark ‘class ceiling’ strongly impacts diversity in leadership. Seeing few others who share their background, working class ethnically diverse professionals face extra hurdles to advance,” says Hemmings.
“This goes beyond fairness – it’s a call for employers to adopt truly inclusive practices that address class and race, as well as disability.”
She argues the introduction of mandatory socio-economic pay gap reporting would help “dismantle” the structural barriers holding talented professionals back.
Member of the Creative Access steering group Jaber Mohamed, director of health comms and PR at MHP Group, identifies connections and money as two of the biggest barriers to entry into the creative industries.
“Lots of opportunities aren’t advertised, so you need to know the right people to get them. And the PR and comms industry is very concentrated to London, so you need to be able to afford to live here/support yourself to take advantage of those opportunities,” Mohamed notes.
“This is especially difficult if your family can’t support you/help you when you’re starting out.”’
