The Publishers Association has released an updated version of their 'Inclusion Action Plan' to encourage diversity, equity, and inclusion in the publishing industry's workforce. The strategy, which was developed in collaboration with the industry's foremost social enterprise dedicated to diversity and inclusion, Creative Access, lays out ten objectives for the publishing industry to achieve between 2023 and 2026. The pledges included in the plan are intended to promote equality of opportunity, spur action, and empower publishing professionals in the United Kingdom.
The Inclusivity Action Plan has been created following focus groups with a range of employees from different firms across the publishing sector. Those involved in the sessions were asked to discuss some of the most pressing issues the industry is facing when it comes to diversity, equality and inclusion, as well as areas where they see room for improvement. These conversations informed the development of each pledge set out in the plan. These include: Develop and embed an inclusivity policy which is set and driven by senior leadership; Commit to data collection and support consistent cross-industry data collection; Provide opportunities for flexible, hybrid, agile, and part-time working; Work towards pay equity, including salary transparency.
As well as committing to the plan, publishers are being asked to work towards new targets for their UK workforce. These should reflect national demographics at all role levels, across the following characteristics: race and ethnicity, socioeconomic background, disability, gender, and sexual orientation. These targets will be measured at an industry level and reported every two years between 2023 and 2026.
The plan is being launched in tandem with the final UK Publishing Workforce: Diversity, inclusion and belonging in 2022 survey. The survey shows that while there has been an increase in the diversity of the workforce, there are still areas that need to be improved on.
Some key findings include: Females continue to dominate the workforce, accounting for two thirds of respondents (66%), with an increasing proportion of executive leadership and senior management positions being held by females (56% and 60% respectively). Representation of people from ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities) has increased to 17% from 15% in 2021. LGBT+ representation has increased, with 15% (up from 13% in 2021) of respondents either identifying as lesbian, gay, or bi, or self-describing their sexual orientation, a figure which has grown each year since 2017 (5%) – and as in 2021, 1% of respondents identified as trans. Socio-economic background continues to represent major barriers to inclusion, with two thirds (66%) of respondents being from professional backgrounds.
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