Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries is a sociological study on social mobility in the cultural industries.
The paper, part of the wider Panic! project initiated in 2015, was led by academics Dr Dave O’Brien, Dr Orian Brook, and Dr Mark Taylor from the Universities of Edinburgh and Sheffield.
Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries highlights the significant exclusions of those from working class origins, women and those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds across the cultural and creative industries, which include the arts, music, publishing, advertising and IT.
The report also found that less than a fifth of employees working in music, performing and visual arts are from a working-class background. Just 18.2% of employees working in music, performing and visual arts are from working class origins – compared with 35% of the workforce overall.
The report was commissioned by arts charities Create London and Arts Emergency. Both charities have revealed a cultural programme aimed at addressing some of the issues explored in the report.
