SURVEY RESULTS “ It’s who you


know; it’s a clique... cultural diversity happens at the fringes of the industry, not at its heart


”


compared to 67% of white respondents. Only 22% of those from minority ethnic groups have worked in publishing for more than 10 years, compared to 40% of those from white groups. This suggests that, in the long term, minority ethnic employees will make an impact in the boardroom, though it is difficult to predict from the data which departments will have representative num- bers of Black and Asian management first. Whether there is a glass ceiling that will continue to keep publishers’ boardrooms a largely white,male, middle-class preserve remains to be seen. Certainly there is a degree of pessimism among respondents. One suggested that “there is some diversity in sales, marketing and administration at lower ranks, decreasing dramatically higher up. There is virtually zero diversity in editorial.” The barriers to management diversity are as much economic as cultural, according to many respondents. “As wages remain static at middle-ranking levels and lists are cut, the industry is going to remain overwhelmingly white and upper-middle class,” was typical of the comments from many repondents.


Sources: Census, April 2001, Office for National Statistics; Census, April 2001, General Register Office for Scotland; Census, April 2001, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.


population size7.9% FROM A MINORITY ETHNIC GROUP % of minority


Total population Count


White Mixed


Asian or Asian British Indian


Pakistan


Bangladeshi Other Asian


Black or Black British Black Caribbean Black African Black Other


Chinese Other


247,403 230,615


All minority ethnic population 4,635,296 All population


58,789,194


0.4 0.4 7.9


100


5.3 5.1


100 n/a


The UK population: by ethnic group, April 2001


54,153,898 677,117


1,053,411 747,285 283,063 247,664


565,876 485,277 97,585


%


92.1 1.2


1.8 1.3 0.5 0.4


1.0 0.8 0.2


ethnic population %


n/a Direct action 14.6


22.7 16.1 6.1 5.3


12.2 10.5 2.1


There is a sense that the under-representation of minority ethnic communities, both by and within the industry, is self-perpetuat- ing and needs direct action by management if it is to change. Publishing employs an overwhelmingly white and middle-class workforce. It is also less proactive than other,more diverse sectors in branding itself as a profession and in recruitment. Networks, personal and professional, tend to be dominated by white, mid- dle-class graduates. As a result, those who hear about publishing through social networks and family connections form a large pro- portion of respondents: 40% got their first job in the business through either a contact, a referral or network of some kind. Publishing will remain a closed shop as long as these networks are dominated by white, middle-class, Oxbridge graduates and their friends,as more than one survey respondent notes: “It’s who you know; it’s a clique . . . cultural diversity happens at the fringes of the industry, not at its heart.” Another observes: “Like other relatively small industries many jobs are filled by word of mouth, so by default limiting the range of people who apply.” But the survey offers room for optimism that the industry is be- coming more diverse. That the issue needs to be addressed seriously is acknowledged by many, giving hope that publishing will be better placed in the future to reap the benefits offered by a culturally diverse workforce. As one notes: “Publishers need to diversify if they are going to survive . . .At the moment everyone is too similar.”


6 IN FULL COLOUR 12 MARCH 2004


More diverse lists One area where cultural diversity has made an impact on the industry is on publishers’ lists. Nearly two-thirds of respon- dents agree that there is now more diversity on lists, with only 22% claiming that lists are less diverse or have remained the same. Asian novelists in particular have a higher profile and are more visible, though their higher profile presence has been from a low base. A glance at the UK bestseller lists reveals how much work remains to be done.Authors such as Zadie Smith and Monica Ali may have broken into the charts in the past few years, but the top end of the market remains heavily dominated by white UKand US authors.Of the top 100 selling books of 2003 according to Nielsen BookScan, none are by Black or Asian authors. Monica Ali’s Booker-shortlisted Brick Lanereached only 179 on the annual list. But the number of Black and Asian authors backed by substan- tial marketing support in large houses fails to reflect the high level of literary activity in minority ethnic communities, as other sur- veys reveal (see box: a missed opportunity). Reading is a funda- mental part of Black and Asian community life, and library usage is also higher than average in these communities. This is clearly not reflected in most lists, and implies that the industry is missing out on important market opportunities.


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