Recording diversity data
ScreenSkills asks all beneficiaries of its services to complete diversity and inclusion monitoring. To offer equal opportunities, prevent discrimination and support under-represented groups, it is essential to monitor our work. We can only change what we measure.
Data helps us measure success and enables us to identify which of our approaches work and which don’t. At ScreenSkills we monitor to inform decisions on where to direct our resources and services. It helps us create a culture of diversity and inclusivity in the screen industries. Our approach is supported with statistics and research and built on best practice guidelines from the Government and organisations such as ACAS.
To understand more about ScreenSkills diversity and inclusion monitoring, see each question we ask, how it was developed and why we ask it, please see the guide to diversity and inclusivity monitoring.
Reporting 'prefer not to say' responses
Respondents who answer ‘Prefer not to say’ to diversity and inclusion questions will not be counted towards targets.
Reporting 'self-describe' free-text responses
Respondents who answered ‘Prefer to self-describe’ and then gave a free-text answer will in most cases not be counted towards targets (with the exception of ethnicity self-description which already fall under an ethnic group heading, e.g. Asian Prefer to self-describe).
As most diversity and monitoring questions include the option for a free-text answer, the ScreenSkills data management team will meet monthly, with input from the ScreenSkills research team, to analyse free-text answers and decide whether updates to monitoring questions are necessary to better reflect data. However, the data management team will not be able to change a beneficiary’s question response in order to re-classify them without those beneficiaries explicit permission to do so.
Grouping diversity data against targets
ScreenSkills collects a range of diversity and inclusion data to inform its investment decisions and as part of its mission to improve inclusion in the industry. There are different targets for different programmes and different funding streams with the aim of improving inclusion.
By illustration, the targets adopted for delivery of the BFI Future Film Skills strategy are as follows:
- 50% women
- 20% Black, Asian and minority ethnic
- 10-12% disabled
- 10% lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT)
- 75% based in regions outside London and the South East
- 15% parental occupation in the following categories: routine manual and service occupations; semi-routine manual and service occupations; long-term unemployment; and this question does not apply to me (this has been set by the BFI as an indicative target awaiting review)
The basic HETV targets for all programmes as agreed by the High-end TV Skills Council are:
50% women -
20% Black, Asian and minority ethnic (40% in London)
10% LBGT
10% disabled
50% nations and regions
Some working groups have the option to flex targets depending on the programme.
To report against these groups, we will translate the diversity data we collect into the above categories, using the following dimensions:
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as:
- Woman
Not included are those who identified themselves as:
- Intersex
- Man
- Non-binary
- Prefer not to say
- Prefer to self-describe
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as:
- Asian Bangladeshi
- Asian Chinese
- Asian Indian
- Asian Pakistani
- Asian Prefer not to say
- Asian Prefer to self-describe
- Black African
- Black Caribbean
- Black Prefer not to say
- Black Prefer to self-describe
- Mixed White and Asian
- Mixed White and Black African
- Mixed White and Black Caribbean
- Mixed Prefer not to say
- Mixed Prefer to self-describe
- Arab
Not included are those who identified themselves as:
- White British
- White English
- White Irish
- White Gypsy or Traveler
- White Northern Irish
- White Scottish
- White Welsh
- White Prefer to self-describe
- Prefer not to say my ethnicity
- White Prefer not to say
- Other Prefer to self-describe
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as:
- Yes (disabled)
Not included are those who identified themselves as
- No (not disabled)
- Prefer not to say whether I have a disability
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as:
- Bi/Bisexual
- Gay man
- Gay woman/lesbian
And/or those who identified themselves as:
- Yes (trans)
Not included are those who identified themselves as:
- Heterosexual
- Prefer not to say sexual orientation
- Prefer to self-describe sexual orientation
And identified themselves as:
- No (not trans)
- Prefer to self-describe trans status
Included in this target are those who entered current postcodes within the regions of:
- North West England
- East of England
- West Midlands
- South West England
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- East Midlands
- North East England
- Northern Ireland
- Wales
- Scotland
Not included are those who entered a current postcode within the regions of:
- South East England
- London
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as attending:
- Attended school outside the UK
- State-run or state-funded school - non-selective
- State-run or state-funded school - selective on academic, faith or other grounds
Not included are those who identified themselves as attending:
- Independent or fee-paying school – no bursary
- Independent of fee-paying school – bursary
- Don’t know
- Prefer to self-describe
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as growing up with parental or guardian occupations of:
- Routine manual and service occupations
- Semi-routine manual and service occupations
- Long-term unemployment
- This question does not apply (e.g. because I was raised in care)
Not included are those who identified growing up with the parental or guardian occupations of:
- Clerical and intermediate occupations
- Middle or junior managers
- Modern professional occupations
- Senior managers and administrators
- Technical and craft occupations
- Traditional professional occupations
- Prefer not to say
Because ScreenSkills has adopted a self-identification model of diversity monitoring, we are reliant on our beneficiaries self-selecting their personal characteristics. This may result in small margins of error due to the individual choices of those completing monitoring.