Georgia Snow in The Stage has reported on our survey into how financial barriers affect career progression in the creative industries, in which we found that 85% of participants are held back in theatre careers by economic obstacles.
Read more about our findings for the theatre sector in The Stage.
Creative Access and McLaren Racing launch new Career Development Bursary
Creative Access, the leading social enterprise in progressive career development and support and McLaren Racing are today launching the Creative Access x McLaren Racing Career Development Bursary.
The Bursary is a new fund aimed at supporting talent from under-represented communities who aspire to work, or further their career, in the creative industries, but who are currently held back from doing so because of their financial status.
Creative Access surveyed more than 1,900 people working in, or looking to pursue, a career in the creative industries to examine how financial barriers impact career progression. The results demonstrate how crucial the bursary will be to enabling people from under-represented groups to access and progress in the sector. Key findings include:
- Just over three quarters (77%) have not applied for a job due to the associated high living or commuting costs
- Over a third (35%) have refused job offers because of financial obstacles
- 76% of 18 – 25 year olds and 79% of 26 – 35 year-olds have not applied for roles due to financial pressures and 69% of 18 – 25 year olds have not taken up a role
- The most common financial pressures impacting career progression are cited as unaffordable living, commuting and relocation costs
- 47% people surveyed say financial barriers have ‘greatly’ impacted their career progression – this increases to 61% for those from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds
- 80% of people who identified as having disabilities did not apply for a role and 59% did not take up a job offer because of financial barriers
- Financial status also prevented 82% of people from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds from applying for roles and 58% from taking up a job offer
The top 5 creative sectors where potential candidates did not apply for a role due to financial reasons are:
- Film – 86%
- Music – 86%
- Theatre – 85%
- TV – 82%
- Museums & Galleries – 81%
The Bursary is the first initiative from the Creative Access and McLaren Racing partnership, which was formed in June this year under the McLaren Racing Engage alliance, which aims to diversify talent in motorsport.
The Bursary will fund training courses, software, equipment and relocation costs, as well as disability access support, care costs and bespoke coaching or mentoring.
The application window for the first round of bursaries will open on Wednesday 27 October and close on Wednesday 8 December. Applicants can apply for bursaries of £250, £500, £750 or £1000 by logging in to an existing Creative Access account or registering at creativeaccess.org.uk.
Josie Dobrin, CEO of Creative AccessWe’re disappointed – but not surprised – to see the confirmation of what we already knew to be true: financial barriers exclude those from under-represented communities from progressing in the creative industries. At Creative Access, we know how vital it is to break down these barriers, which is why we are proud to have launched this new bursary with our partners McLaren Racing to fund talent from under-represented communities as they springboard into their creative careers. After all, they are the future of the industry.
Here at McLaren Racing, we have a strong belief that everyone should have access to the same resources and opportunities within our industry, regardless of financial status or background.
Driving an inclusive and diverse team is an ongoing and evolving process, and something we are committed to for the long-term. The bursary marks a significant first step in our plans for our workforce to be more representative of the population by 2030, and we are proud to take this step in our journey alongside Creative Access.
As part of our strategic alliance known as McLaren Racing Engage, and the F1 #WeRaceAsOne campaign, we are in a unique position where we can influence the wider motorsport industry to diversify talent at all levels across all functions, while also working on our own culture of inclusion at McLaren Racing.
Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren RacingThrough McLaren Racing Engage and our partnership with Creative Access, we hope to inspire and encourage the next generation of creative talent within our sport and remove the barriers which would otherwise prevent them from utilising their skills and adding value to a racing team such as McLaren.
Coverage of the bursary, as well as our research has been featured in PR Week, The Bookseller, The Stage, ArtsProfessional, Broadcast, UK Screen Alliance and DiversityQ.
In an article on closing ethnicity and gender pay gaps, PRWeek spoke to agencies about the biggest barriers within the advertising agency and how to change.
WDW Entertainment spoke of calling out the limitations of advertising roles in the echo chamber. They explained that their partnership with Creative Access have helped diversify their applicant pool:
“When we have advertised jobs historically on our social channels or via word of mouth most applicants have been white. The biggest challenge has been the pipeline. since working with Creative Access this has changed exponentially.”
Read the article in full here.
Demand for diverse talent to fill vacancies in the creative industries increased by a staggering 331% in August 2021 compared to August 2019 Creative Access have seen as employers seek to use the current vacancies boom to address the sector’s longstanding diversity problem. We have also seen a 185% increase in the number of employers wanting to recruit more people from under-represented communities, showing that employers are seeking to understand how best to create an inclusive workforce and want to increase their confidence in navigating the diversity agenda and terminology and take appropriate action.
Creative Access saw the most significant rise in vacancies in music and the performing and visual arts as theatres, film and TV productions and entertainment venues re-open and need to hire staff post-pandemic.
Our data research has been covered by The Bookseller.
The Drum recently covered creating a more diverse talent pipeline in the advertising, PR and communications industry.
Katie Edwards at Publicis•Poke Publicis Groupe explained how they set up Publicis Poke Talent by
“partnering with Creative Access to bring in a cohort of early careers talent who will be nurtured in our greenhouse program to build long-term careers across all departments.”
While Nicola Statham at FleishmanHillard said,
“We’re conscious our industry isn’t always accessible to everyone” and that’s why they choose to partner with talent pools like Creative Access that ‘champion underrepresented groups’.
The article can be seen here.
Maja Pawinska Sims has covered Bibi Hilton’s new position at Creative Access in Provoke Media. Speaking to Sims on her role, Hilton stated:
“I’m so passionate about D&I and it was a chance to take everything I’ve learned over the past 15 years and work in a social enterprise. Creative Access is relatively established as a 10-year-old organisation, and now D&I is finally a priority in the C-suite there have been a proliferation of organisations, consultancies and charities in this space, so a key challenge and opportunity will be to ensure we really build a foundation for our leadership position in the sector.”
You can read the full article here.
PR Week have reported that Bibi Hilton has joined the Creative Access team, acting as the new Director of Communications. She has over 15 years experience in PR, working as MD of Golin London and, most recently, as Global Engagement Director for Unilever at Interpublic. Bibi is also the former President of Women in PR.
Read the full article here.
Danielle Harrison talks to Prospects about how Creative Access supported her progression from Trainee Researcher at BBC to the Researcher/Casting Researcher role she is in now.
Danielle discusses the support on offer from Creative Access for interns, her experience and aspirations, and the importance of increasing diverse representation in TV.
You can read the full interview here.
Creative Access has been mentioned by Georgie Holt, Managing Director for ACAST, in an article on ELLE.
The article details ways in which you can find your dream role in the creative industries.
You can read the full article here.
The Bookseller reports on the latest recipients of the Mo Siewcharran Fund, run by Creative Access; including Faber and Faber, Canongate, Profile Books, Stockroom, and Cloud Cuckoo Land.
The grants are awarded to publishing and theatre companies in memory of Mo Siewcharran, who was a Director at Nielsen Books.
You can read the full article on The Bookseller.
Publishing companies Profile Books and Canongate, as well as theatres Cloud Cuckoo Land and Stockroom, have been awarded the latest grants from the Mo Siewcharran Fund
The Fund was set up in memory of former Nielsen Books Director Mo Siewcharran, whose passion for theatre and publishing lives on through this Fund. The Fund, administered by Creative Access, supports internships for young talent from ethnicities that are under-represented in the creative industries.
Birmingham based theatre company Cloud Cuckoo Land Theatre is recruiting a Children’s Theatre Leadership Trainee to support the company with creating children’s theatre for and with systemically marginalised communities.
“We’re over the moon to be welcoming a Children’s Theatre Leadership Trainee to join us in Cloud Cuckoo Land. Young audiences deserve stories and theatre experiences that reflect, celebrate and resonate with their lives and communities. The theatre for young audiences sector has limited ethnic and cultural diversity behind the scenes, in the very roles that author, inspire and drive new productions: so we’re incredibly grateful to Creative Access and the Mo Siewcharran Fund for the opportunity to provide a new route into that work for a talented aspiring artist.”
London theatre company Stockroom works with artists from all backgrounds to bring the best work to the most people. They are hiring a Trainee Dramaturg to contribute to the creation of new plays for the stage. Kate Wasserberg, Artistic Director for Stockroom said:
“Stockroom is a company dedicated to creating new work for the stage and the first theatre company to create a diverse writers room of staffed artists who group write all of our work. We are delighted to welcome a Trainee Dramaturg into our writers room where they will develop their voice and learn to trust their instincts in a nurturing and creative environment. We are incredibly grateful to receive this funding and for our partnership with Creative Access in this exciting project.”
Canongate, a leading publishing house based in London and Edinburgh, has also been awarded the grant. Francis Bickmore, Publishing Director for Canongate said:
“We’re thrilled and honoured to have been awarded this grant, which is especially important to us as John Seton was a colleague of ours at Canongate and this fund was set up as a lasting memorial to his wife Mo. It is such a practical and lasting project for change and we are confident we will gain and be able to train a fabulous colleague as a result.”
The final grant has been awarded to leading non-fiction independent publisher, Profile Books. Niamh Murray, Campaigns Director at Profile Books said:
“We’re delighted to be welcoming a Creative Access trainee to Profile Books and our award-winning publicity team. The support by Creative Access is second-to-none, the calibre of applicants remarkable and it’s fitting that many of the senior team worked with Mo Siewcharran early in her career so we’re proud and delighted to be taking part in this fantastic scheme in her memory.”
John Seaton, who set up the Fund, said:
“Yet again we were bowled over by the strength of the applications to Mo’s Fund. The creative industries – and in particular theatres – continue to have a tough time and Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse employees in the UK have suffered disproportionately from job losses throughout the pandemic. Our hope is that these grants will act as a catalyst for the trainees to enter and thrive in the creative industries.”
Any theatre or publisher wishing to apply for the next round of Mo Siewcharran Fund should email here for the application form. The deadline for the next round of submissions for the Mo Siewcharran Fund is Friday 3rd December 2021.
The Bookseller was the first media outlet to cover our State the Salary research.
Creative Access analysed 500 of the most recent job listings featured on our website. We found that jobs where the employer chose to list the salary as “competitive” attracted nearly 40% fewer applicants than jobs where the salary, or a salary range, was stated in the advert.
You can read the full article on The Bookseller.