Diversity survey of the publishing workforce 2020

The 2020 survey is the most comprehensive ever undertaken of the UK publishing workforce, with a total of 14,122 employees from 71 businesses taking part.

Key findings include:

• Over half of executive leadership and senior management roles are held by women (52% and 55% respectively). This compares to 49% and 41% in 2017. Females accounted for 64% of respondents. 
• Representation of people from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups has remained around 13% since 2017. 3% of respondents identified as Black or Black British, 6% as Asian or Asian British, 3% as having mixed or multiple ethnicities and 1% of respondents identified as belonging to another minority ethnic group. 
• LGBT+ representation continues to increase with 11% of respondents either identifying as lesbian, gay, or bi, or preferring to self-describe. This figure has more than doubled since 2017 (5%). 0.6% of respondents identified as trans. 
• The representation of people with a disability has increased from 2% in 2017 to 8% in 2020. 
• Almost half of respondents have experienced mental health problems. Compared to the previous year, this increased from 40% to 46%. At the time of the survey, one in five were currently experiencing mental health problems.