Advertising and marketing industry edges towards greater inclusion

The results of the 2023 All In Census show the industry is making some progress on inclusion issues, with the headline All In Inclusion Index score at 69%, up two percentage points since 2021.

Additionally, a sense of belonging was up two percentage points (ppts) to 71% and a presence of negative behaviour was down one percentage point to 15%. 

Why it matters

Almost 19,000 practitioners from across the advertising and marketing industry took part in this year’s study, making it the largest survey of its kind undertaken by any UK industry. Speaking at the launch of the results, Caroline Dinenage MP – who sits on the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee – pointed out that there’s an obligation to act on the responses, having asked the questions. She’d also like to see the work replicated in other sectors.

Addressing the issues raised will play an important role not only in attracting and retaining staff, but in producing work that more accurately reflects the country as a whole.

Key findings

• Over half of women feel that taking parental leave has negatively impacted their career progression. Twenty-nine percent of women believe their gender is a hindrance to career progression in the industry, more than twice the proportion of men.
• One in four women would not feel comfortable approaching their manager about menopausal symptoms.
• Ethnic minorities taking part in the survey exceeded that of the UK working population; 18% of respondents were from a minority ethnic background, of those 4% were Black and 8% Asian.
• Levels of discrimination, bullying and harassment of ethnic minorities are lower in 2023 than in 2021. Most notable is the decline in relation to Asian people likely to leave the industry, falling from 27% in 2021 to 21% in 2023.
• However, three in 10 Black people said they were likely to leave the industry due to a lack of inclusion and/or discrimination. One in 10 people from an ethnic minority had personally experienced racial discrimination at their current company.
• Black and Asian respondents were more likely than any other minority group to have personally experienced discrimination at their current company – 14% and 11% respectively. These were followed by Muslims and women as the next most likely to experience discrimination – both 9%. But all were notably lower than in 2021.
• 11% of all respondents and 8% of C-suite respondents to the All In Census are disabled based on the Equality Act 2010 definition, lower than the 14% in the UK working population.
• 20% of the workforce are from a working-class background compared to 40% of the UK population. Nineteen percent of people in the industry attended a fee-paying school versus 8% in the general population.
• The proportion identifying as LGB+* in the survey was significantly higher than the UK average, though there is work needed to improve representation at C-suite.
•  The industry’s age profile skews heavily towards the 25-34 and 35-44 age brackets – nearly three-quarters of workers – compared with just under half of the UK working population. Twelve percent of respondents in the 55-64 age bracket have felt personally discriminated against due to their age, more than double the industry average.
•  A third of respondents were affected by stress or anxiety and, for 14%, that stress/anxiety was primarily work related.
• The average number of days spent working in the office for full-time employees was 2.2 days; but respondents said they’d ideally like to spend 1.9 days in the office.

The full results are available on the All In Hub.

* The term LGB+ is used to refer to an individual’s sexual orientation (i.e. those identifying as lesbian, gay, bi or other). Those who identified as transgender and/or non-binary are captured in gender representation. 

Sourced from Advertising Association