Reporting diversity and inclusion

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:

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.