New research from social mobility organisation, the Sutton Trust, reveals the extent to which the creative industries remain “elite professions.”
The report, published today, reveals that amongst those aged 35 and under, there are around four times as many individuals from middle class backgrounds as working class backgrounds in creative occupations.
The report finds that education and class background have a huge impact on people’s ability to reach the top of their creative profession. Across television, film and music, high-profile figures in the creative industries are much more likely to have attended private school than the UK population. BAFTA-nominated actors are 5 times more likely to have attended a private school, at 35% compared to the national average of just 7%.
Access to creative degrees in subjects such as Music and Art is skewed towards those from upper-middle-class backgrounds at the most prestigious institutions. At four universities – Oxford, Cambridge, King’s College London and Bath – more than half of students on creative courses come from the most elite ‘upper-middle-class’ backgrounds.
The universities with the lowest proportions of creative students from working-class backgrounds are Cambridge and Bath (4%), Oxford and Bristol (5%), and Manchester (7%). At each of these universities, the percentage of creative students from working-class backgrounds is lower than for students on all other degrees (6% at Oxford and Cambridge, 7% at Bath and Bristol, and 19% at Manchester).
There is also a stark class divide in specialist institutions such as conservatoires and higher education institutions specialising in music and the performing arts. The Royal Academy of Music (60%), Royal College of Music (56%), Durham (48%), Kings College London (46%) and Bath (42%) all have very high proportions of privately educated students studying creative subjects. All of these institutions have higher proportions of privately educated creative students than Oxbridge (32%).
Over 50% of Oxford, Cambridge and KCL’s music students come from ‘upper-middle-class’ households, and for six Russell Group institutions this proportion is between 40-49%.
To tackle this inequality, the Sutton Trust is calling for a range of measures to improve access to the arts, such as introducing an ‘arts premium’ so schools can pay for arts opportunities including music lessons, ensuring that conservatoires and creative arts institutions that receive state funding are banned from charging for auditions, and adding socio-economic inclusion as a condition of employers receiving arts funding.
The Sutton Trust is also developing a partnership with the British Screen Forum, which aims to address socio-economic diversity through targeted skills and career initiatives.
Nick Harrison, CEO of the Sutton Trust, said: “It’s a tragedy that young people from working class backgrounds are the least likely to study creative arts degrees, or break into the creative professions. These sectors bear the hallmarks of being elitist – those from upper-middle-class backgrounds, and the privately-educated are significantly over-represented.
“Britain’s creative sector is admired around the world, but no child should be held back from reaching their full potential, or from pursuing their interests and dream career, due to their socio-economic background. It’s essential that action is taken to ensure access to high quality creative education in schools, and to tackle financial barriers to accessing creative courses and workplace opportunities.”
Jon Creamer
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