Abstract / Description of output
The creative economy – defined by the United Nations as the part of the economy that is “at the crossroads of the arts, business and technology” (United Nations, 2008, p. iii) – is a large driver of social benefit as well as financial growth. However, there are great inequalities in who participates in and benefits from the creative economy (Brook et al., 2020; Carey et al., 2021). This is despite the fact that diversity contributes to successful business models, products, and increased audiences and markets (de Vaan et al., 2015; Wreyford et al., 2021). Our paper asks: how can data help our understanding of diversity and inclusion for those employed, and innovating in the creative economy? Focusing on the activities of Creative Informatics (https://creativeinformatics.org) and four other clusters in the UK’s AHRC-funded Creative Industries Clusters Programme (CICP, 2018-2024), we show how data can inform our understanding of mechanisms of exclusion in creative sectors, particularly at the intersection of race, class, and gender.
This paper introduces inequalities in the creative industries and describes current measures addressing these imbalances. It then presents an overview of the equality, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) approaches of CICP clusters, highlighting key areas such as data monitoring, and measuring efficacy. Finally, we make recommendations on what we must do to ensure that both a diverse workforce and audience can engage in digital aspects of the creative industries, including developing and delivering a data-driven approach to ED&I that is created and operates in conjunction with relevant communities; incorporating feedback and accountability; and making key decisions around monitoring, criteria, transparency, fairness, public funding and accessibility (Black et al., 2023). This paper also demonstrates that approaches from the Digital Humanities are useful to tackle pressing issues in the wider digital creative economy.
Bibliography
Black, S., Orme, A., Osborne, N., and Terras, M. (2023). “Evaluating Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion activities within Creative Industries Clusters: A report from Creative Informatics”. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8114197.
Brook, O., O’Brien, D. and Taylor, M. (2020) Culture is Bad for You: Inequality in the Cultural and Creative Industries. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Carey, H., O’Brien, D. and Gable, O. (2021) Social Mobility in the Creative Economy: Rebuilding and Levelling Up? Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and Work Advance. https://pec.ac.uk/research-reports/social-mobility-in-the-creative-economy-rebuilding-and-levelling-up.
United Nations, 2008. “Creative Economy Report 2008. The Challenge of Assessing the Creative Economy: Towards Informed Policy-Making”. Report. https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditc20082cer_en.pdf.
de Vaan, M., Stark, D. and Vedres, B. (2015) ‘Game changer: The topology of creativity’, AJS; American Journal of Sociology, 120(4), pp. 1144–1194. https://doi.org/10.1086/681213.
Wreyford, N., O’Brien, D. and Dent, T. (2021) “Creative Majority: An APPG for Creative Diversity Report on ‘What Works’ to Support, Encourage and Improve Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Creative Sector”. All Party Parliamentary Group for Creative Diversity. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/cultural/projects/creative-majority.
This paper introduces inequalities in the creative industries and describes current measures addressing these imbalances. It then presents an overview of the equality, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) approaches of CICP clusters, highlighting key areas such as data monitoring, and measuring efficacy. Finally, we make recommendations on what we must do to ensure that both a diverse workforce and audience can engage in digital aspects of the creative industries, including developing and delivering a data-driven approach to ED&I that is created and operates in conjunction with relevant communities; incorporating feedback and accountability; and making key decisions around monitoring, criteria, transparency, fairness, public funding and accessibility (Black et al., 2023). This paper also demonstrates that approaches from the Digital Humanities are useful to tackle pressing issues in the wider digital creative economy.
Bibliography
Black, S., Orme, A., Osborne, N., and Terras, M. (2023). “Evaluating Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion activities within Creative Industries Clusters: A report from Creative Informatics”. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8114197.
Brook, O., O’Brien, D. and Taylor, M. (2020) Culture is Bad for You: Inequality in the Cultural and Creative Industries. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Carey, H., O’Brien, D. and Gable, O. (2021) Social Mobility in the Creative Economy: Rebuilding and Levelling Up? Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and Work Advance. https://pec.ac.uk/research-reports/social-mobility-in-the-creative-economy-rebuilding-and-levelling-up.
United Nations, 2008. “Creative Economy Report 2008. The Challenge of Assessing the Creative Economy: Towards Informed Policy-Making”. Report. https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditc20082cer_en.pdf.
de Vaan, M., Stark, D. and Vedres, B. (2015) ‘Game changer: The topology of creativity’, AJS; American Journal of Sociology, 120(4), pp. 1144–1194. https://doi.org/10.1086/681213.
Wreyford, N., O’Brien, D. and Dent, T. (2021) “Creative Majority: An APPG for Creative Diversity Report on ‘What Works’ to Support, Encourage and Improve Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Creative Sector”. All Party Parliamentary Group for Creative Diversity. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/cultural/projects/creative-majority.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 5 Jun 2024 |
Event | Uk Ireland Digital Humanities Association Annual Conference 2024: Inclusivity across Sectors Uileghabhálacht Thar Earnálacha - University College Cork, Cork, Ireland Duration: 4 Jun 2024 → 7 Jun 2024 https://digitalhumanities-uk-ie.org/2024-annual-event/2024-programme/ |
Conference
Conference | Uk Ireland Digital Humanities Association Annual Conference 2024 |
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Abbreviated title | UKIEDH 2024 |
Country/Territory | Ireland |
City | Cork |
Period | 4/06/24 → 7/06/24 |
Internet address |