SIG Projects 2023/24 Reports

Project: Investigations and Solutions in Addressing Ethnic Diversity in the Events Industry

SIG Funding Awardees:  Professor Thomas Fletcher (Leeds Beckett University) and Nadu Placca (Co-founder, Association of Black Event Professionals)

SIG Links:  DEI and Future Leaders

Currently there are no data available to confidently state the level of ethnic diversity within the events industry. This has generated interest from academics and the industry itself. Most recently, Fletcher et al., (2023) explored the experiences of ethnically diverse event professionals in the UK. They found that covert and overt forms of racism and discrimination remain ubiquitous within the culture of event organisations, and in a number of guises; ranging from regular racialised microaggressions to more subtle forms of exclusion. The Zoo XYZ (Placca, 2021) explored racial disparities – with a particular focus on Black professionals - within the UK events industry, focusing on 15 trade bodies and associations. Its findings were released as a report, ‘Black in the Boardroom’. The findings showed that, within the trade associations and bodies analysed, there were no Black professionals in senior, board or leadership positions, while in contrast, White people made up 99.1% of those positions. There is thus, growing recognition that the events industry is not diverse, and that this is problematic from both a social justice and a business perspective.

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Currently, no study has examined the lived experiences of Black event professionals at different stages of a career in events. Through interviews with existing and aspiring (i.e., student) Black events professionals, this project explored some of the ways in which events organisations, education and careers are racialised. As both educators and representatives of the industry, we have a responsibility to ensure our practices are inclusive, and that we are helping to provide appropriate pathways to development for Black communities. In centralising race and racism in exploration of organisational processes and experiences, this project makes an important contribution to events education and the events industry.

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To date, we have undertaken 22 in-depth semi-structured interviews. Ten of these were with current, and/or very recent graduates, who identify as Black, from both UG and PG Events Management programmes in the UK. Challenges associated with recruiting Black students was apparent from the start, and we did not manage to speak with the number of students we had either hoped for, or anticipated. We would continue to welcome referrals from within the AEME network. A further 12 interviews were undertaken with current event professionals; 11 of whom self-identified as Black women, and one Black man. Their experience within the industry ranged from 6 to 33 years, with some having worked in events throughout their careers, and others joining from aligned industries, such as hospitality or travel and tourism.

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Our findings show that:

• There is very limited ethnic diversity on Event Management degree courses. This is especially the case at Undergraduate level, where cohorts are predominantly ‘home’-based, and white. At Postgraduate levels, participants reflected on the increased visibility of ethnic diversity, as a result of growing numbers of international students. However, Black students remain under-represented within these cohorts.

• The ideas of ‘race’, racism and racial inequity are not taught on many Event Management programmes. Even where equality, diversity and inclusion are addressed, these are largely within the context of gender and/or disability.

• Academic and wider teaching staff are overwhelmingly white. Their experiences do not necessarily resonate with Black students.

• Black students would like advice from academic staff, placement providers etc., on how to navigate the industry; which they perceive as being overwhelmingly white.

• Covert and overt forms of racism and discrimination remain ubiquitous within the culture of event organisations, and in a number of guises; ranging from regular racialised microaggressions to more subtle forms of exclusion.

Taken together, therefore, Event Management programmes and the events industry need to do more than pay lip service to neoliberal notions of diversity and (a) acknowledge the ways in which racial relations of power shape both universities (and their curricula), the industry, and the experiences of individuals within them, and (b) design interventions to address these issues.