Why Diversity Programs Fail—And How to Fix Them
Metadata
- Publisher
- SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
- Doc Type
- Journal Article
- Content Type
- Original Research
- Abbreviated Title
- SMPTE Mot. Imag. J
- Volume
- 127, No. 9, pp. 56–69
- Abstract
- In recent years, there has been a rise in diversity initiatives throughout the entertainment and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics industries in response to mounting criticism. While college programs have been found to represent the general population well in terms of diversity, the diversity drops off sharply after graduation, and our industry becomes largely homogenous in top-tier positions. Many initiatives are struggling to make a meaningful impact, especially when it comes to changing the face of our industry’s above-the-line professionals. This is because, from entry-level through the development of top talent, the established system favors a narrow range of individuals who have fewer barriers to opportunity. However, this established system can easily be changed without major disruption. Having studied the efforts and impact of current programs, it is apparent that many tend to approach the issue backward, addressing barriers from top down instead of from the bottom up. Through case studies and the application of research and theory, we will present the analysis of current trends in diversity programs such as those offered by networks and studios for minority writers and directors combined with the available data collected from STEM fields. We will offer practical adjustments, considerations, and solutions to significantly improve the effectiveness of investments in diversity by companies and organizations across the film and television industry. Readers will have tangible, actionable takeaways that they can implement within their organization right away. Rather than scold, this paper is meant to educate and lead decision makers and influencers toward more effective uses of time and money spent on diversity, shifting the goal toward inclusiveness.
- Publication Date
- 2018-10-01
- DOI
10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499- ISSN
- Print:
1545-0279| Electronic:2160-2492 - Link
- https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499
- Author(s)
- Kylee PeñaKatie HinsenMeaghan Wilbur
- Keyword(s)
- Diversity, Inclusivity, People Of Color, Women
- Copyright
- © 2018 SMPTE
Bibliographic Reference(s)
- M. Ong, C. Wright, L. Espinosa, and G. Orfield, “Inside the Double Bind: A Synthesis of Empirical Research on Undergraduate and Graduate Women of Color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics,” Harvard Educ. Rev., 2011. [Online]. Available: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6f39/c23d05cf0b16efc96448b2062f9f45181b12.pdf EXTERNAL
- Blue Collar Post Collective, “Internship Survey,” Feb. 2017. [Online]. Available: http://www.bluecollarpostcollective.com/surveys-studies/ EXTERNAL
- J. A. Whittaker and B. L. Montgomery, “Cultivating Diversity and Competency in STEM: Challenges and Remedies for Removing Virtual Barriers to Constructing Diverse Higher Education Communities of Success,” US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, Oct. 15, 2012. EXTERNAL
- J. Daniels, “How Unpaid Internships Undermine Diversity & Inclusion Efforts,” June 4, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-unpaid-internships-undermine-diversity-inclusion-daniels-mba-jd/ EXTERNAL
- J. Hunt, “Why Do Women Leave Science and Engineering?” Forbes, 2010. [Online]. Available: https://www.forbes.com/2010/06/08/science-engineering-gender-gap-forbes-woman-leadership-pay-promotion.html EXTERNAL
- R. DiAngelo, “How White People Handle Diversity Training in the Workplace,” June 27, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://medium.com/s/story/how-white-people-handle-diversity-train-ing-in-the-workplace-e8408d2519f EXTERNAL
- M. M. Lauzen, “The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 100, 250, and 500 Films of 2016 (Rep.),” Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 2017. EXTERNAL
- J. Venator and R. Reeves, “Unpaid Internships: Support Beams for the Glass Floor,” Brookings Institute, July 7, 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2015/07/07/unpaid-internships-support-beams-for-the-glass-floor/ EXTERNAL
- Forbes Insights, “Global Diversity and Inclusion: Fostering Innovation Through a Diverse Workforce,” 2011. [Online]. Available: https://www.forbes.com/forbesinsights/innovation_diver-sity/index.html EXTERNAL
- L. S. Wu, “The Mini-Symposium on Women of Color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM),” 2010. EXTERNAL
- K. Hatch, “Cutting Women: Margaret Booth and Hollywood’s Pioneering Female Film Editors,” in Women Film Pioneers Project. Center for Digital Research and Scholarship. Columbia University Libraries: New York, NY, 2013. [Online]. Available: https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/essay/cutting-women EXTERNAL
- Early Childhood Action Collective, “Implicit Bias in Early Education and What It Means for Children and Teachers,” Feb. 17, 2017. [Online]. Available: http://ecactioncollective.org/index.php/blog/204-implicit-bias-in-early-education-and-what-it-means-for-children-and-teachers EXTERNAL
- S. E. Page, “Diversity and Complexity,” Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2011. EXTERNAL
- C. DeBaise, “Making Hollywood Less Sexist, One Crowd Scene at a Time. Huffington Post,” 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/colleen-debaise/making-holly-wood-less-sexist-one-crowd-scene-at-a-time_b_6856698.html EXTERNAL
- K. Heddleston, “How Our Engineering Environments are Killing Diversity: Introduction,” Mar. 9, 2015. [Online]. Available: https://kateheddleston.com/blog/how-our-engineer-ing-environments-are-killing-diversity-introduction EXTERNAL
- D. Heckman and S. Johnson, “Women and Minorities are Penalized for Promoting Diversity,” Mar. 23, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://hbr.org/2016/03/women-and-minorities-are-penalized-for-promoting-diversity EXTERNAL
- B. Gee, D. Peck, and J. Wong, “Hidden in Plain Sight: Asian American Leaders in Silicon Valley,” Ascend Pan-Asian Leaders, May 2015. EXTERNAL
- A. Wittenberg-Cox, “Deloitte’s Radical Attempt to Reframe Diversity,” Aug. 3, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://hbr.org/2017/08/deloittes-radical-attempt-to-reframe-diversity EXTERNAL
- National Science Foundation, “National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences,” Women Minor. Persons Dis. Sci. Eng., 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/nsf17310/static/downloads/nsf17310-digest.pdf EXTERNAL
- N. Fouad and R. Singh, “Stemming the Tide: Why Women Leaving Engineering,” University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2011. [Online]. Available: https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/NSF_Stemming%20the%20Tide%20Why%20Women%20Leave%20Engineering.pdf EXTERNAL
- C. Staats, K. Capatosto, R. Wright, and V. Jackson, “State of Science: Implicit Bias Review,” 2016. [Online]. Available: http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/implicit-bias-2016.pdf EXTERNAL
- F. Dobbin and A. Kalev, “Why Diversity Programs Fail,” Harvard Business Rev., 2016. [Online]. Available: https://hbr.org/2016/07/why-diversity-programs-fail EXTERNAL
- E. Pao, “ProjectInclude.Org,” 2018. [Online]. Available: http://projectinclude.org EXTERNAL
- A. Green, “Differences Between Men and Women are Vast Exaggerated,” Aug. 5, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/differences-between-men-women-vastly-exaggerated-adam-grant EXTERNAL
- I. Sin, S. Stillman, and R. Fabling, “What Drives the Gender Wage Gap? Examining the Roles of Sorting, Productivity Differences, and Discrimination,” Motu Working Paper 17–15, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, 2017. EXTERNAL
- V. Hunt, D. Layton, and S. Prince, “Why Diversity Matters,” [Online]. Available: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters EXTERNAL
- US Census Bureau, “American Community Survey,” 2009. [Online]. Available: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/ EXTERNAL
- A. Cutler and D. R. Scott, “Speaker Sex and Perceived Apportionment of Talk,” Appl. Psycholinguis, 11(03):253. doi:10.1017/s0142716400008882 EXTERNAL
- S. Stephens-Davidowitz, “Opinion|Google, Tell Me. Is My Son a Genius?” Jan. 18, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/google-tell-me-is-my-son-a-genius.html EXTERNAL
- A. Holford, “Access to and Returns from Unpaid Graduate Internships,” IZA Institute of Labor Economics, June 2017. [Online]. Available: http://ftp.iza.org/dp10845.pdf EXTERNAL
- US Census Bureau, “US Census,” 2010. [Online]. Available: https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-1-1.pdf EXTERNAL
- Murphy, S., “Half of Film School Grads Are Women—So Why Are Only 1.9% Directing Big Budget Films?” May 13, 2015. [Online]. Available: http://www.mtv.com/news/2159771/female-directors-college/Peña, K., “Women Are Tired and I’m Watching Them Leave Post Production,” June 14, 2017. [Online]. Available: http://kyleep-ena.com/2017/06/14/women-are-tired-and-im-watching-them-leave-post-production/Snyder, K., “Why Women Leave Tech: It’s the Culture, not because ‘Math is Hard,’” Dec. 3, 2014. [Online]. Available: http://fortune.com/2014/10/02/women-leave-tech-culture/ EXTERNAL
- B. Staalsburg, “Women are Working More Than Ever—Inside the Home and Out,” May 11, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brittany-l-stalsburg-phd/women-are-working-more-th_b_9878996.html EXTERNAL
- F. Ates¸, “A Brief History of Women in Computing,” Aug. 9, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://hackernoon.com/a-brief-history-of-women-in-computing-e7253ac24306 EXTERNAL
- M. Ong, “The Mini-Symposium on Women of Color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): A summary of events, findings, and suggestions,” TERC: Cambridge, MA, 2010. EXTERNAL
- J. S. Eccles, “The Development of Children Ages 6 to 14,” Fut. Children, 9(2):30, 1999. EXTERNAL
- L. Evenson, “Diversity and Inclusion Top the List of Talent Practices Linked to Stronger Financial Outcomes,” Nov. 12, 2015. [Online]. Available: http://www.bersin.com/News/PressArticles.aspx?id=19377 EXTERNAL
- S. Smith, “Black Feminism and Intersectionality,” [Online]. Available: http://isreview.org/issue/91/black-feminism-and-inter-sectionality EXTERNAL
- K. Conger, “Exclusive: Here’s The Full 10-Page Anti-Diversity Screed Circulating Internally at Google,” Aug. 5, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-1797564320 EXTERNAL
- N. Cantú, “Getting There Cuando No Hay Camino: Chicanas in Mathematics, Science and Engineering,” The Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering National Science Foundation TERC, Inc, 2009. EXTERNAL
- J. Williams, S. Li, R. Rincon, and P. Finn, “Climate Control: Gender and Racial Bias in Engineering,” Soc. Women Eng., 2016. [Online]. Available: https://research.swe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/16-SWE-020-Work-Study-11-01-LM.pdf EXTERNAL
- A. Marcotte, “Parents Ask Google If Their Sons Are Geniuses and If Their Daughters Are Fat,” Jan. 21, 2014. [Online]. Available: http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/01/21/parents_ask_google_is_my_son_gifted_and_is_my_daughter_overweight.html EXTERNAL
- G. Galvin, “Study: Middle School Is Key to Girls’ Coding Interest,” Oct. 20, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.usnews.com/news/data-mine/articles/2016-10-20/study-computer-sci-ence-gender-gap-widens-despite-increase-in-jobs EXTERNAL
- D. Foster, “Lean Out,” Repeater: London, UK, 2016. EXTERNAL
- D. R. Francis, “Employers’ Replies to Racial Names,” [Online]. Available: http://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/w9873.html EXTERNAL
- J. Hathaway, “Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans (2017),” A Degree of Savings State Legislatures, pp. 20–23, Mar. 2016. EXTERNAL
- P. Mcintosh, “White Privilege and Male Privilege. A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies,” 1988. [Online]. Available: http://webspace.ship.edu/jacamp/whiteandmale_privilege_mcintosh.htm EXTERNAL
- J. Williams, S. Li, R. Rincon, and P. Finn, “Climate Control: Gender and Racial Bias in Engineering. Society of Women Engineers,” 2016. [Online]. Available: https://research.swe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/16-SWE-020-Work-Study-11-01-LM.pdf EXTERNAL
- B. Artz, A. Goodall, A. Oswald, “Research: Women Ask for Raises as Often as Men, But Are Less Likely to Get Them,” Harvard Business Review, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://hbr.org/2018/06/research-women-ask-for-raises-as-often-as-men-but-are-less-likely-to-get-them EXTERNAL
- A. Scott, F. Klein, and U. Onovakpuri, “Tech Leavers Study” The Kapor Center for Social Impact, 2017. EXTERNAL
- National Public Radio, “National Science Foundation. When Women Stopped Coding,” 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/10/17/356944145/episode-576-when-women-stopped-coding EXTERNAL
- J. A. Whittaker and B. L. Montgomery, “Cultivating Diversity and Competency in STEM: Challenges and Remedies for Removing Virtual Barriers to Constructing Diverse Higher Education Communities of Success,” J. Undergrad. Neurosci. Educ., 11(1):A44–51, 2012. EXTERNAL
- E. Weise and J. Guynn, “Tech Jobs: Minorities Have Degrees, But Don’t Get Hired,” 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/10/12/silicon-valley-diversity-tech-hiring-com-puter-science-graduates-african-american-hispanic/14684211/ EXTERNAL
- E. Reuben, P. Sapienza, and L. Zingales, “How stereotypes impair women’s careers in science,” Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 111(12):4403– 4408, 2014. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1314788111 EXTERNAL
- C. Vera and D Janab, “Experience Doesn’t Pay the Bills,” Congressional Research Report presented June 17, 2017. [Online]. Available: http://payourinterns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Payourinternsreport.pdf EXTERNAL
- National Science Board, “Science and Engineering Indicators,” National Science Foundation, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsb20181/report. EXTERNAL
- S. Jaschik, “The Bias for White Men,” Apr. 24, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/04/24/study-finds-faculty-members-are-more-likely-respond-white-males-others EXTERNAL
- U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, “Encouraging Minority Students to Pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Careers,” 2010. EXTERNAL
- Bidwell, A., “African-American Men: The Other STEM Minority,” May 7, 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/articles/2015/05/07/african-american-men-the-other-stem-minorityGanley, C. and Lubienski, S., “Current Research on Gender Differences in Math,” May 9, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.nctm.org/Publications/Teaching-Children-Mathematics/Blog/Current-Research-on-Gender-Differences-in-Math/Vogt, P. and Goldman, A., “Raising the Bar [Audio Blog Interview],” Gimlet Media, Jan. 20, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://gimletmedia.com/episode/52-raising-the-bar/ EXTERNAL
- Online Universities, “10 Startling Stats About Minorities in STEM,” 2012. [Online]. Available: http://www.onlineuniversi-ties.com/blog/2012/06/10-startling-stats-about-minorities-stem/ EXTERNAL
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Mathematics Self-Beliefs and Participation in Mathematics-Related Activities,” in Ready to Learn: Students’ Engagement, Drive and Self-Beliefs, Vol. III, pp. 79–104, 2012. doi:10.1787/888932963958 EXTERNAL
- Howard, J., “New Study Confirms Depressing Truth About Names and Racial Bias,” Oct. 8, 2015. [Online]. Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-sounding-names-study_us_561697a5e4b0dbb8000d687fKaufman, A., “How Diversity Initiatives are Changing the Film Industry,” July 7, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.indiewire.com/2016/07/diversity-film-industry-initiatives-1201703197/Klein, S. A. F. and Onovakpuri, U., “Tech Leavers Study,” The Kapor Center for Social Impact, 2017. EXTERNAL
Source Data (JSON)
Full registry record with provenance metadata. Open directly: /api/doc/10.5594-JMI.2018.2860499.json
Reference Tree
Explore all references and references to this document, as a navigable tree.
Open Reference TreeReference this Doc
Plain text (ISO 690 compliant)
Preview:
Kylee Peña, Katie Hinsen, and Meaghan Wilbur; Why Diversity Programs Fail—And How to Fix Them, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 127, Issue: 9, October 2018); SMPTE, 2018. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499
Snippet:
Kylee Peña, Katie Hinsen, and Meaghan Wilbur; Why Diversity Programs Fail—And How to Fix Them, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 127, Issue: 9, October 2018); SMPTE, 2018. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499
HTML (ISO 690 compliant)
Preview:
Kylee Peña, Katie Hinsen, and Meaghan Wilbur; Why Diversity Programs Fail—And How to Fix Them, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 127, Issue: 9, October 2018); SMPTE, 2018. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499
Snippet:
<span class="citation">Kylee Peña, Katie Hinsen, and Meaghan Wilbur; <cite>Why Diversity Programs Fail—And How to Fix Them</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 127, Issue: 9, October 2018); SMPTE, 2018. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499</a></span>
SMPTE's HTML Pub
Preview:
Kylee Peña, Katie Hinsen, and Meaghan Wilbur; Why Diversity Programs Fail—And How to Fix Them, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 127, Issue: 9, October 2018); SMPTE, 2018
doi: 10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499
doi: 10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499
Snippet:
<li> Kylee Peña, Katie Hinsen, and Meaghan Wilbur; <cite id="bib-10-5594-jmi-2018-2860499">Why Diversity Programs Fail—And How to Fix Them</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 127, Issue: 9, October 2018); SMPTE, 2018 <span class="doi">10.5594/JMI.2018.2860499</span> </li>