AMERICAN THEATRE: The Actors’ Equity Association has released the 2020 diversity and inclusion hiring bias report, which tracks hiring demographics of its members for acting and stage management work, as well as how much they were paid. Despite some improvements, the data indicates that there are still noticeable disparities in opportunity and pay in the theatre industry nationwide.
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This is really disappointing. It is true that 2020 was a doozy of a year for hiring and employment but a promise to do better is a promise. And obviously, the majority are not doing better. This is something that We See You White American Theatre has been talking about for ages and even though I kept seeing their posts about it I didn't understand the reality of it until I saw this graph. It seems like no one is listening to WSYWAT when they absolutely should be. Seeing this graph from Actors Equity makes me very interested too see what a similar graph from IATSE would look like. It makes me wonder if there is more diversity in hiring behind the stage? Even though I doubt it, it would be an interesting comparison to make. I can only hope that as the theatre industry is getting back on its feet that the promises made to improve diversity are kept and some real change starts to happen.
First off, I actually really appreciate AEA for the reports because I think they offer transparency in the industry. There are definitely mixed feelings after reading the article. While it is nice to see that there are some incremental changes in equity (both in work pay and hiring), the changes are very minimal and the gap is still large and therefore discouraging. I am surprised and disappointed to find that there is still a difference in wages for different genders, races and abilities because I consider that something very easy to ‘fix’ in comparison to hiring, which might take a longer process. Of course, there is no reason why anyone should be treated differently depending on their race, gender, disability and many other factors. At the same time, I wonder what the AEA could do to help move the process forward since they also acknowledge themselves that the result is less than satisfying.
“Disappointed but not surprised” encapsulates my feelings after reading this article and skimming the report itself. The Actors’ Equity Association has released its 2020 diversity and inclusion hiring bias report. The report tracks hiring and pay demographics of its members in regards to acting and stage management. Given that these trends were noticed in previous two iterations of this report, it makes me question the AEA's commitment to tangible DEI changes. As with many other organizations, it is far easier to say that one is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and that accessibility is a key focus. It is much harder to truly commit and execute these plans. Thus, I always have trouble believing organizations in regards to their DEI commitment, especially if they have no tangible policies backing their words. There has been some improvement, it would be disingenuous to deem that negligible, however, there is much more the AEA can do to strengthen their commitment to reduce the disparities this report shines a light on.
What is most significant about this report is how revealing it was to how the DEI commitments theaters companies made across the country were mostly performative. As Actors Equity Association president Kate Shindle pointed out, just because the pandemic greatly impacted theaters, it is no excuse for the minute change in hiring bias. However, it is unclear how the general public and even people in the industry can put pressure on the companies to do better. Equity or another third party could review each theater company and publish individual diversity and inclusion hiring bias reports so consumers know whether or not the company has taken action. The industry failed to uphold the demands from Black Theatre United’s New Deal for Broadway within a year of it being published. There is obviously a strong need and desire for greater momentum and yet the slow pace for change is still the norm.
To echo previous comments made on this article, I am disappointed, but really not surprised. While I understand that 2020 was absolutely not the year for theatre statistics, this is still pretty upsetting. What's interesting to me is that AEA recognizes this gap, laments it, and promises to do better, but I'm not sure how they're going to do that. I'm not super familiar with AEA and how their internal processes work, but I assume that any egregious case of inequality in pay can be reported and AEA can put pressure on the theater. I'm still trying to figure out how unions are able to put pressure on aside from threatening strikes, to be fair.
But anyways, yeah, this is disappointing and upsetting, and yet I've come to expect it. Here's hoping that the AEA actually doubles down on this and makes some change.
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