Time for marketing industry to move beyond rhetoric on DEI

The second wave of the World Federation of Advertisers’ Global DEI Census shows high recognition of industry efforts, but no actual improvement, on inclusion. 

Nearly three in four (72%) marketers around the world acknowledge industry attempts to improve the lived experiences of key groups – numbers vary widely by country, from 87% in Canada to 49% in Japan – but the WFA’s Global Inclusion Index* remains almost unchanged from where it was a year ago (63% vs 64%).

Why it matters

The sense that fine words aren’t being translated into changes on the ground is nowhere more evident than in the fact that respondents in senior positions were more likely to report things have improved (58%) than managers (49%) or junior staff (42%). Key groups are also less likely to agree that there are people like them in senior positions in their company, highlighting a lack of role models. 

And that matters because nearly one in seven respondents say they would leave the industry on the back of a lack of diversity, equity and inclusion – a figure that is even worse among certain groups (women, LGBTQ+, ethnic minorities, disabled).

Takeaways 

• The most common forms of discrimination reported are still around age, gender and family status: 41% of women, 42% of parents and 39% of caregivers feel that family responsibilities hinder one’s career. 
• Twelve percent of 18-24-year-olds and 17% of those 55-64 said they personally experienced age discrimination compared to an overall global average of 8%.
• Disabled respondents reported living the worst work experiences (45% versus 67% non-disabled). 
• Women, disabled and ethnic minority respondents are all more likely to say they are: 

– unfairly spoken over (30% of women versus 21% men, 39% of disabled versus 25% non-disabled and 30% for ethnic minority respondents versus 26% for ethnic majority respondents).

– undervalued compared to colleagues of equal competence (31% for women versus 23% men, 42% for disabled versus 26% for non-disabled, 33% for ethnic minorities versus 26% for their majority counterparts). 

Key quote

“We may not have meaningfully moved the needle globally but industry efforts are increasingly visible. Now is the time to double down and stay the course because ultimately our efforts will be rewarded with more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces where the best talent will flock” – Stephan Loerke, CEO at WFA. 

*The 2023 Global DEI Census gathered nearly 13,000 responses across 91 countries providing a detailed insight into people’s lived experiences from across the industry globally. The overall level of inclusion is calculated on the basis of answers to questions about a respondent’s sense of well-being, an absence of discrimination and a presence of negative behaviours. 

Sourced from WFA