Diversity survey of the publishing workforce 2017

In 2017, we launched an industry-wide 10-point action plan to tackle inclusivity and ensure that publishing better reflects the UK population. As part of this plan, we committed to undertake an annual industry-wide survey of the workforce demographics of UK publishing houses, in order to obtain a true reflection of the diversity within the industry.

Our initial survey found that women account for 49% of senior leadership roles but only represent 41% at executive board level. The results also revealed that Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees only make up 13% of the publishing workforce. We subsequently set two targets for the industry: to achieve at least 50% of women in both senior leadership positions and executive-level roles; and an overall workforce that is at least 15% Black, Asian and ethnic minority employees.