Media For All finds persistent perception gap in diversity efforts

A perception gap persists around progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion in the media industry, according to Media For All’s (MEFA) inaugural MEFA Measures Survey.

The gap means that individuals not directly affected by a lack of representation in the office are more likely to be positive on progress on DE&I efforts than those from minoritised backgrounds, particularly women and those earlier in their career.

So while 59% of men say “everyone in my organisation is treated fairly”, just 42% of women agree, and just 37% of workers aged 18-34 say that their organisation is “doing enough to allow Black, Asian, and ethnic minority talent to thrive”.

More than six in 10 (61%) of White people say “everyone is given a fair opportunity for promotion and career development at my company”; just 47% of Asian respondents and 32% of Black respondents agree.

MEFA was founded by outdoor ad veteran and NABS trustee Naren Patel in 2017 to help recruit more diverse talent to media. A volunteer organisation, the community now has over 500+ members from BAME backgrounds.

The report notes that the survey makes use of a limited data sample, meaning margin of error may be larger than for a survey of a greater number of participants. The results nevertheless highlight a distinction in thought between those with lived experience of marginalisation and those without.

Black and Asian women were particularly unlikely to agree that progress has been made on equality in the workplace – just 29% of Black women say that people in their organisation have an equal chance to rise to the top (versus 43% among all women) and just 28% of Asian women felt confident about their ability to progress in their organisation (versus 54% among all women and 47% among Black women).

The survey thus found that white survey respondents were consistently more positive in their outlook than Black and Asian people, especially around the topics of role models, progression, and equal treatment.

MEFA recommends that for companies to improve their diversity and inclusion practices, senior leadership must lead by example by improving representation at higher levels and actively address unconscious biases that might “sneak in to ‘fit’ interviews”.

The organisation also suggests holding everyone in account for DE&I, including by hosting mandatory diversity trainings for all staff and ending nepotism across individual companies and the industry as a whole, which can dampen efforts at inclusion in recruitment.

“More leadership accountability, less tokenism and box ticking”, writes the report.

Additionally, MEFA highlights that media organizations should welcome and continually shine a light on the ethnicity pay gap as a first step toward solving that issue.