A survey of more than 1,000 people working in UK publishing has found that more than 90% currently in the industry classify themselves as white British.
Carried out between June and July, the bookcareers.com salary survey received 1,023 valid responses. The vast majority of respondents – 84.6% – were female, and more than nine in 10 (90.4%) were white British. Four years ago, when research was last conducted, 81.8% of respondents were female, and 93.7% were white British.
“I think publishers have been very proactive in trying to encourage diversity … in their companies,” said bookcareers.com’s Suzanne Collier, pointing to Penguin Random House and Hachette as leaders in this field. “But it is going to take a long time for this to take hold, and until that figure is reduced to about 60/40 we have not got true diversity.”
Or is that female skew not what they’re talking about?
BBC men?
Also, number watch.
At the last Census, 87% of the population were “White British”.
So 90.4%, considering that publishing is the last resort for jobs for quite so many useless middle-class over-educated under-brained tossers (who are also more likely to fill in surveys about how wonderful they are, see “selection effect”), is a fairly good stab at effective levels of diversity.
How about women have more time on their hands to complete pointless surveys? Or women are more likely to skive at work by completing pointless surveys? (While men read and comment on blogs?)
This self reporting survey can tell us many things, the sex and race of workers in the publishing industry isn’t one of them.
60/40 white/non-white?
Why? That’s a huge disparity the other way. That is more out of whack on than current bean counting of skin colours being under represented by 3%.
These people are nuts
Rob, I’d also ask the question that if she wants publishing to become over-represented, which industry does she by mathematical necessity want to be under-represented.
Manc
Yes I was thinking that on the bus this morning too.
Not enough numbers. I really don’t know why adults expect anything social to be remotely close to being representative of characteristics of society at large.
Social things aren’t typical. The population as a whole isn’t typical. There are billions of preferences in the population and groups, however you define them, have different preferences and are not comparable.
For example. How many people from Merseyside are their in x industry compared to people from London in x industry?
There isn’t many Londoners in farming. Certainly not the % of nations population that are Londoners etc.
It is weird how everything is racist except when the white are to be put at a disadvantage. A modern form of caste system I suppose.
The BBC has always had a disproportionate number of ethnics in their programmes, but since we peasants made our stupid decision to leave the EU they have doubled up on their efforts. You won’t see a white faced reporter unless they are “eccentric” or have a disability.
But the real state of the BBC was exposed by the tribute to Brucie. All the BBC executives and producers were white as the driven snow. A 90 black 10 white ratio is fine, but they must know their place!
So 90.4%, considering that publishing is the last resort for jobs for quite so many useless middle-class over-educated under-brained tossers
They’re normally upper middle class women who studied English or History of Art and married a chap in the city who pulls in the big bucks and she needs a hobby, from what I’ve heard. So yes, your description is accurate.
@TimN
See also Ping (Pandora Ingleby-Thomas) on the ineffable Ed Reardon’s Week.
Only women respond to goofy surveys.
‘survey received 1,023 valid responses’
The number sent out is not published. Nor is the number of men and number of women it was sent to.
I wonder how many refused to disclose as it is none of the State’s business
The colour stats are similar to the population as a whole, so no change is required there, if there must be change.
But publishing is populated mostly now by women. There are a few older men still around, but they’ll mostly be retiring in a few years. So in that regard things are vastly our of whack with the overall population.
Also, they’re almost all middle-class and upper-middle-class women. And almost all of them are left-wing. They all read The Guardian. So if there’s any changes required, it’s getting in more right-wing men. And more people from the working-class who read The Sun.