Resources
Resources
Here you will find useful resources such as links to talks and podcasts, articles and longer reads (including academic research and industry reports), as well as links to organisations that can offer advice and support.
Podcasts and recorded talks
My Leeds Story
In this podcast, you can hear stories from before, during and after your time at Leeds from fellow alumni who have gone on to make a world of difference.
What does inclusivity mean to you? Panel talk with employers
Imposter syndrome advice and support: Talk with employers
Changemakers
Check out the episode to hear Represent contributors Gina, Theo and Hannah talk about what youth voice means to them. Vanessa Mudd from @heritagecornerleeds and @leedsmuseumsandgalleries Chris Sharp also share their reflections on the positive changes work with young people can bring to our museums and heritage sites.
Disability focus: Reasonable adjustments in the workplace and how to ask for them
Navigating Education, Belonging, White Feminism and Activism with Sola
In this episode, Leeds student, and Creative Life Stories intern Siza Dube, chats to special guest Sola and discuss their shared experience of being black women and the things they have had to navigate in their education, being in white spaces, black spaces and why it's important as an activist to set boundaries.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6C7vMZJ1SgY8gyBGGkR6ri?si=CoC7DeLYSdWgUaJN-WumfQ&dl_branch=1&nd=1
Do Black Lives Still Matter?
The music industry reacted with a surge of outrage to the death of George Floyd. Artists and labels alike posted black squares on social media, standing in solidarity with people of colour. Following #BlackoutTuesday, a social media campaign led by two black music executives, grime artist Saskilla asks, what have music powerhouses done in the year that has followed, and have significant changes been made in the world of music?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p09hy4dk/do-black-lives-still-matter-series-1-3-music
Michael Sheen talking to Channel 4 news about pathways into the creative arts
Artists Make Change Conversations
We are aware that the ideas of Change and Making Change, can mean different things to different people and practitioners, and take many forms and approaches. Following on from the set of Case Study presentations and facilitated group discussions, Artists Make Change has commissioned a series of artist-to-artist conversations as a way of diving deeper into the subject. We invited one artist to choose their conversation partner(s) and set their own agendas, to create a conversation space to explore personal experience, and dig into shared concerns and the pressing issues challenging artists today. In each of these in-depth, wide-ranging, evocative and provocative discussions, the sentiment is explored in a variety of ways - all urgent and contemporary - but offering different and differing perspectives of whether, how and why Artists Make Change.
https://www.airspacegallery.org/index.php/2020/public_entry/conversations
How I change perceptions by drawing comics
Growing up as a comic book fan, artist Shawn Martinbrough rarely saw people of color depicted positively (or at all) in the stories he loved. So he headed over to New York Comic Con to wrangle himself his first assignment for Marvel Comics. Now, as a successful artist who has worked on "Black Panther" and "Hellboy," he shares the importance of diversity -- for creative teams and character stables alike.
https://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_martinbrough_how_i_change_perceptions_by_drawing_comics
Claudia Rankine (playwrite) and Natalie Ibu in conversation - The White Card
| "What is The White Card about? [...] It is a way of thinking about how philanthropy works, especially when white male patriarchy holds the money [...] whatever is offered can be taken away" - Claudia Rankine Watch as The White Card director Natalie Ibu speaks with writer Claudia Rankine about what the show means to her, and the emotions and conversations she hopes to inspire in audiences. Written during an increasingly racially divided America and shortly before the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests rippled across the globe, a wealthy, privileged white couple invite a talented Black artist to dinner. Tensions run high and a heated debate uncovers some uncomfortable truths that can’t be ignored about white privilege, cultural appropriation and representation. Be an ally, be in the room, be in the conversation. Join us for the UK and European premiere of The White Card as we are all posed the question: can society progress when whiteness remains invisible? The White Card invites us all to play our part in the debate. |
Articles and longer reads
How to crack the arts as a BME student
Nish Kumar, Emmy the Great, Samuel Ross and Bridget Minamore explain how they broke into an industry where BME people are significantly underrepresented.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jun/12/arts-advice-bme-students
Arts supremo Kully Thiarai: ‘Break the rules! They need breaking’
The creative director of Leeds 2023 on seeing ‘beyond the chapati pan’ of her working-class background and how British theatre reflects diversity now.
The changing face of the museum sector
This article considers the challenges that new entrants will need to tackle and offers advice to those considering this area of work.
Why are female artists underrepresented?
LGBT candidates and interview success: an expert’s view
Bryan Durkan, Principal Consultant with HRM Recruitment, shares his insights on how lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) candidates can excel at interview. As a recruiter with years of experience headhunting top talent, Bryan knows a thing or two about interviews and what to expect.
https://mycareer.leeds.ac.uk/user/svc/cms.html#/content/article/1e2c2063-5bbc-4036-b84d-0acf73e861cf
Wayne McGregor: ‘Dancers are believing their voices can be heard, and I love that’
Fascinating article about University of Leeds alumni and trailblazing choreographer, WayneMcGregor, who wants to bring diversity to professional dance.
Creative UK Black History Month Spotlight: Melanie Eusebe
In the very first of our Black History Month spotlight series, we interview Melanie Eusebe MBE, chair and co-founder of the Black British Business Awards (BBBAwards), I&D Lead for Accenture Europe and UK, and esteemed entrepreneur and author. During our conversation, we go back in time to the very beginning of the BBBAward’s conception, as well as looking into the future to get a sneak peek into Melanie’s bustling 2022 pipeline. We also tap into Melanie’s perception of how attitudes in the I&D space have evolved over the past decade, and find out how her own personal experiences motivate and steer her work.
Creative UK Spotlight: Dom Shaw – Diversifying the Games Industry
In our latest Spotlight, we chat to Dom Shaw, EDI Coordinator at Ukie and one of the key leaders at the helm of the #RaiseTheGame initiative designed to make the UK games industry more inclusive. We find out more about how Dom became involved with Ukie and #RaiseTheGame, then dig deeper into what the pledge is all about and how it’s uniting organisations, shifting strategies and facilitating the knowledge-sharing required for meaningful change. We also get Dom’s advice for underrepresented talent looking to start a career in the games industry today.
https://www.wearecreative.uk/spotlight-dom-shaw-diversifying-the-games-industry/
Career Planning: What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do
Aimen Mahmood (Leeds alumna, BA English Literature, 2019) talks about her experiences of imposter syndrome and uncertainty and provides tips for how you can map out your future.
‘They are totally smashing it!’ Bernardine Evaristo on the artistic triumph of older Black women.
Artists, novelists, actors, poets: from the Venice Biennale to Bridgerton, Black women in their 50s and 60s are finally getting the recognition they deserve, says the pioneering Booker winner.
Who can afford a future in the arts and humanities?
Young Talent Fisola reflects on the cost of living crisis and the pressure to find a profitable career.
Funding cuts to the UK’s arts will drive away British creatives
Many of the young people in our community are impacted by this year's record cuts, so we commissioned Young Community member Abrehet to reflect on how.
https://www.arts-emergency.org/noticeboard/21/12/arts-cuts-impact
How diverse is the British entertainment industry?
Though the entertainment industry has certainly come a long way in terms of diversity in the past five years, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure equal representation of all ethnicities. With this in mind, Gen-Z Talks magazine interviewed Alison Boateng (@alisonboateng_), an aspiring actress and BRIT School alumni, to talk about her experience in the British entertainment industry as a dark-skinned black woman.
https://www.gen-z-talks.com/post/how-diverse-is-the-british-entertainment-industry
Diversity Spotlight: Dr Lisa McKenzie on celebrating working-class creativity
We catch up with Dr Lisa McKenzie—academic, ethnographer and author—following the recent launch of her new book, Lockdown Diaries of the Working Class. We discuss how the ‘Working Class Collective’ who collaborated on the book came to be and how the group is united in championing equality for working-class creatives.
We explore Lisa’s perspective on social capital, class inequality and a class system that is “deep, perversive and damaging”. We also find out more about her fresh perspective on what it means to be working-class with no desire to follow the rules of social mobility in order to open doors and access opportunities.
I had to fight my way through class barriers into my job. Why has so little changed?
Too many people still face the prejudices I had to confront as a working-class Liverpudlian when I tried to become a journalist.
Julie Hesmondhalgh: ‘I wasn’t aware of class until I went to drama school in London’
In an extract from her new book An Actor’s Alphabet, the former Coronation Street and Broadchurch actor unpicks the prejudices that are still rife in the arts industry.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/nov/23/julie-hesmondhalgh-class-an-actors-alphabet
What Does it Mean to Be Working Class in the Arts?
A new online exhibition exposes the financial and cultural obstacles working-class artists face breaking through – and offers a reminder of the distinctive perspective workers bring to the arts.
https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/04/what-does-it-mean-to-be-working-class-in-the-arts
Michael Sheen is right – there is a class crisis in the arts
The actor Michael Sheen recently complained about the lack of opportunities in film and journalism for working-class people. Writing in the New Statesman, Sheen said that the path he had taken into the film industry – as a working-class young man from South Wales – has all but disappeared. But Sheen isn’t just complaining, he is doing something about it.
https://theconversation.com/michael-sheen-is-right-there-is-a-class-crisis-in-the-arts-163824
63% of Black music makers have experienced racism in UK industry – study
Survey of 1,718 performers, creatives and staff reveals microgression, pay disparities and discrimination are rife.
Networks, advice, support
The 93% Club
The 93% Club is the first and largest network of state-educated university students.
Arts Emergency
Arts Emergency is an award-winning mentoring charity and support network. They work long-term with young people in London, Brighton, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
https://www.arts-emergency.org/about-us
Creative Access
The mission of Creative Access is to support talented people from groups that are under-represented in terms of ethnicity, socio-economic background and disability, or facing significant barriers to employment, to not just enter the creative industries, but to thrive when they get in. Only then will the industry truly reflect and engage broader society.
Creative Future
Creative Future nurture underrepresented artists in their creative development. They provide skills training, mentoring, exhibiting, promoting, and publishing opportunities.
What's the creative industry doing about diversity?
Seven organisations championing diversity and inclusion
https://www.dandad.org/en/d-ad-whats-creative-industry-doing-about-diversity-new-blood-advice/
The Black Music Coalition
The Black Music Coalition is dedicated to eradicating racial injustice and establishing equality for Black executives, artists and their communities within the music industry.
The Incluseum
Mission
The Incluseum advances new ways of being a museum through dialogue, community building and collaborative practice related to inclusion in museums.
Vision
The Incluseum is:
- A space to build community around issues of inclusion and justice in museums
- A resource for current research and practice related to inclusion
- A platform for dialogue that advances the ways in which we understand, talk about, and enact inclusion in museums
- A project that weaves digital and offline engagements to catalyze ‘next practices’
Amplify
Profiling children & young people's voice in creative & cultural learning, Amplify is made for professionals working in the cultural, education & youth sectors. Each episode shares evidence from a range of contexts designed to inspire & give practical tools to support your work with amplifying children & young people’s voice.
Black Lives in Music
Black Lives in Music addresses the current inequality of opportunity for black people aspiring to be involved in the music industry.
Through research, advocacy we support the music community to act on and achieve diversity and inclusion objectives for a truly representative music industry.
We support organisations in the development of a balanced professional ensemble with people of colour.
We help with the recruitment of people of colour representing senior management/board level
We use trusted diversity, equity and data capture
We provide programmes, mentoring and support for the progression of Black musicians into professional ensembles
We work with Orchestras and professional ensembles, universities, conservatoires and more.
Black Lives in Music wishes to work with organisations, ensembles and companies throughout the UK music industry. We wish to open dialogues and build relationships in the true spirit of working together. We want to collaborate with all agents of the UK music industry to achieve equality for people of colour so they can express themselves in music of all genres and in all areas of this profession.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/black-lives-in-music/?originalSubdomain=uk
Academic articles and industry reports
Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries
Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries is the first sociological study on social mobility in the cultural industries, and was released by Create London and Arts Emergency on April 16th, 2018.
The paper is part of the wider Panic! project initiated in 2015, that takes an unprecedented look at social mobility and inequality within the cultural and creative industries in the UK. Led by academics Drs Dave O’Brien, Orian Brook, and Mark Taylor from the Universities of Edinburgh and Sheffield, the paper highlights the significant exclusions of those from working class origins, women and those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds across the cultural and creative industries, which include the arts, music, publishing, advertising and IT.
Social mobility in the creative economy: Rebuilding and levelling up?
This report concludes phase 2 of the PEC’s 'Class in the Creative Industries' programme. Led by PEC researchers at Work Advance, the University of Edinburgh, and the Work Foundation, and co-funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the research provides definitive evidence on the causes of class imbalances and sets out an ambitious and wide-ranging programme of change to enhance social mobility into Creative roles.
Creative Diversity. The state of diversity in the UK’s creative industries, and what we can do about it.
There is a hard economic case for the creative industries to diversify their workforces - and action could be taken now.
This survey of available data confirms the creative industries are failing to reflect the diversity of the populations where they are based, but suggests they stand to benefit even more than most organisations if they do.
Impacts of Covid-19 on the cultural sector
The project aims to deepen understanding of the impacts Covid-19 is having on cultural organisations, the cultural sector workforce, and audiences. It will also identify the implications for how and what policy decisions are made in response to the crisis.
We are sharing the research findings as they become available so they can inform responses in real time.
https://www.culturalvalue.org.uk/the-team/covid-19-research-project/
Be SMART: A BAME staff-student partnership to enhance graduate employability
This case study explores ‘Be SMART’, a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff-student collaboration to enhance graduate employability, piloted at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. It provides a novel insight into how students, staff and external organisations working in partnership can successfully engage BAME students in enhancing their employability skills and experiences. Be SMART offered BAME students the opportunity to access mentoring, leadership and professionalism workshops and also flexible paid internships. We explore the impact of Be SMART by means of a questionnaire and a series of semi-structured interviews with participants. Our findings show that participants, who widely reported significant improvements in their self-confidence, acquired a range of professional-level skills from their engagement. They also developed a stronger sense of belonging to the University, enhanced their peer network and were subsequently more likely to engage with the Careers Service. Our case study critically explores the success factors of Be SMART to facilitate wider uptake of BAME-targeted, co-created employability initiatives in United Kingdom higher education.
Oputa, O. & Cross, I. (2021). Be SMART: A BAME staff-student partnership to enhance graduate employability. Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 7(1).
https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/1038
Exploring Ethnic Inequalities in Admission to Russell Group Universities
This article analyses national university applications and admissions data to explore why ethnic minority applicants to Russell Group universities are less likely to receive offers of admission than comparably qualified white applicants. Contrary to received opinion, the greater tendency of ethnic minorities to choose highly numerically competitive degree subjects only partially accounts for their lower offer rates from Russell Group universities relative to white applicants with the same grades and ‘facilitating subjects’ at A-level. Moreover, ethnic inequalities in the chances of receiving an admissions offer from a Russell Group university are found to be greater in relation to courses where ethnic minorities make up a larger percentage of applicants. This latter finding raises the possibility that some admissions selectors at some Russell Group universities may be unfairly rejecting a proportion of their ethnic minority applicants in an attempt to achieve a more ethnically representative student body.
Getting into a Russell Group university: high scores and private schooling
Despite substantial prior research on higher education choice, top universities in the UK continue to stand accused of favouring socio-economically advantaged students, to the detriment of those from poorer backgrounds. The objectives of this study are to test whether students with the same or equivalent entry scores are more or less likely to enter a top (Russell Group) university based on their social class background, parental education, occupation, age and racial group. Are students from disadvantaged backgrounds achieving the same entry grades or scores as other students, and based on their grades, are they equally likely to be studying at Russell Group universities? The research is based on primary data from a national (UK) survey with 10,723 respondents from 140 universities and higher education institutions. The findings from binary logistic regression show that prior schooling (private schooling) and high entry grades are the best predictors of attendance atRussell Group universities in the UK. The model with twelve predictors is significant using the full sample and the random sub-samples, and four key variables are strong predictors for all models:schooling, entry scores, age (under-19) and non-widening participation status predict the likelihood of attending a Russell Group university in 70% of cases. The respondents in this study who attended a private school are one and a half times more likely to attend a Russell Group university than students who attended a state-funded school. Black students are also underrepresented in Russell Group universities, but their entry scores are significantly lower.
Hemsley-Brown, J. (2015). Getting into a Russell Group university: high scores and private schooling. British Educational Research Journal, 41 (3) 398–422.
https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3152
The creation of social networks: social capital and the experiences of widening participation students at three elite institutions in the US, England, and Scotland
As nations continue to use OECD data to ensure preparedness for global competitiveness, questions concerning how inequality is constructed and maintained in different nations are critical. Drawing on Bourdieu and Savage, I argue that social capital continues to perpetuate social inequality both prior to and during university attendance despite decades of widening participation policy in the US and UK. A nested case study of thirty underrepresented students across the US, England, and Scotland is used to illustrate three findings: students who identified as being from the poorest backgrounds indicated having fewer social ties both prior to and during their university experience. Second, widening participation students do not receive the same social advancement from attending an elite university as their peers. Finally, differences in how each of these universities organise students provide clues to how universities can ensure the social acceptance, inclusion and cohesion of the underrepresented student.
Friend, K.L. (2021) The creation of social networks: social capital and the experiences of widening participation students at three elite institutions in the US, England, and Scotland. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 29(3), 359-377, DOI: 10.1080/14681366.2020.1735496.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681366.2020.1735496?journalCode=rpcs20
The more colours you add, the nicer the picture: Unlocking artistic potential in London.
This report outlines the challenges of widening access to creative arts and design HE courses in London, what is being done to address these challenges and how we can address them better in the future. It draws on analysis of secondary data, surveys with higher education institutions, cultural organisations and schools and colleges, as well as interviews with students on undergraduate arts degrees in London.
Alberts, N., & Atherton, G. (2016). The more colours you add, the nicer the picture: Unlocking artistic potential in London. AccessHE.
https://www.accesshe.ac.uk/resources/publications-research-reports/
Deflecting Privilege: Class Identity and the Intergenerational Self
Why do people from privileged class backgrounds often misidentify their origins as working class? We address this question by drawing on 175 interviews with those working in professional and managerial occupations, 36 of whom are from middle-class backgrounds but identify as working class or long-range upwardly mobile. Our findings indicate that this misidentification is rooted in a self-understanding built on particular ‘origin stories’ which act to downplay interviewees’ own, fairly privileged, upbringings and instead forge affinities to working-class extended family histories. Yet while this ‘intergenerational self’ partially reflects the lived experience of multigenerational upward mobility, it also acts – we argue – as a means of deflecting and obscuring class privilege. By positioning themselves as ascending from humble origins, we show how these interviewees are able to tell an upward story of career success ‘against the odds’ that simultaneously casts their progression as unusually meritocratically legitimate while erasing the structural privileges that have shaped key moments in their trajectory.
Friedman, S., O’Brien, D., & McDonald, I. (2021). Deflecting Privilege: Class Identity and the Intergenerational Self. Sociology, 55(4), 716–733. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038520982225
Financing elite education: Economic capital and the maintenance of class power in English private schools
The relationship of elite schools to economic capital is central to understanding the maintenance of their cultural power and institutional longevity. Since Glennerster and Wilson’s analysis in 1970, there has been little analysis of how private schools in England manage their wealth or how they are differentiated hierarchically by the composition and scale of the capital they hold. Research has explored the financing of elite universities, with less attention on schools. Using detailed Charities Commission financial data, I examine the finances of 216 English private schools in the Head Masters’ Conference association. The analysis entails a Principal Components Analysis followed by a Hierarchical Clustering on the Principal Components to reveal the economic hierarchy amongst elite schools in England. I then draw on the schools’ published accounts to examine this hierarchy further. These analyses show how the economic field of elite schools is dominated by just five schools with almost unassailable levels of wealth in property, investments and fees. Beneath them sit a wealthy group with smaller capital holdings and more diverse incomes including lucrative satellite campuses in Asia. These wealthier schools are largely boarding schools located in southern England. The provincial day schools of northern England and less prestigious boarding schools have much lower incomes and almost total reliance on tuition fees. Proximity to and control over capital allow schools to maintain their dominance, underlining how the material basis for elite cultural and class power in and over education is ultimately economic.
Gamsu, S. (2022). Financing elite education: Economic capital and the maintenance of class power in English private schools. The Sociological Review, 70(6), 1240–1266. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261221076202
BAME underrepresentation in UK universities: a view from the humanities
Significant divisions have emerged out of the political turmoil of the past three years or so. Yet, out of this unrest has come an increased attention to the virulent racism and racial injustices that still exist in UK society and overseas. In the UK, a number of reports have facilitated more nuanced and evidence-based discussions on BAME underrepresentation, the achievement gap, and the racism experienced by BAME students and staff in universities. This article will summarise the findings of these reports and reflect on their impact for the humanities.
Livesey, A (2019). BAME underrepresentation in UK universities: a view from the humanities. Innovations in Practice, 13 (2). 11-17.