Diversity begins at (the) Home (page)
The Geena Davis Institute (GDI) has been doing great work on gender diversity in the film industry for a few years now. Under the tag line of "If she can see it, she can be it", the Institute uses hard data to make the very good case for image diversity is just as important as any initiative. GDI doesn't just tell film makers that women matter, but is showing just how far films have to go before they truly represent society and the many amazing stories we all have to tell.
Their latest initiative, "THE REEL TRUTH: WOMEN AREN’T SEEN OR HEARD". uses machine-learning technology, to give films a data-driven, evidence-based, "Inclusion Quotient". Their research shows that when it comes to the moving image, women are seen and heard substantially less than men. For example, when a film has a male lead, male characters appear on screen nearly three times more often than female characters (34.5% compared to 12.9%). In films with a female lead, male characters appear about the same amount of time as female characters (24.0% compared to 22.6%).
Measuring things that matter, makes a difference, it was why in 1995 Manifest started assembling directors data to show clearly not just the age/background/ experience/qualifications of directors, but gender as well. No machine learning then, just hand-coded data crunching.
Roll forward over a quarter of a century, the recent annual investment conference of the Pensions & Lifetime Savings Association (#PLSAinvest) was themed around diversity in pensions. With an outstanding line-up of speakers addressing key issue of cognitive diversity and better outcomes for savers, attendees were left in no doubt that the finance industry and in pensions still has a long way to go.
During that idle hour between checking in at Edinburgh airport and finally boarding the plane home, I had a look around the websites of some of the leading names in pensions and investments who were either attending or sponsoring the conference. It really didn't need The Googleplex's vast resources to show me what I already instinctively knew: the faces on the websites looming back at me were, you guessed it, overwhelming middle-aged, middle-class, white and male - in some cases exclusively so.
It isn't rocket science: finance matters to women, young and old, rich and poor, white and BAME. If you aren't speaking to your key demographic through words, actions and images then it's time for a re-think. Photographs are not expensive, but alienating your key clients is. If you don't want to invest thoughtfully in what your web-sites say to us, why should we invest any of our savings with you?
So here's my post-card from Edinburgh:
Dear finance industry: don't just tell us that diversity matters, show us.
Lots of love, Sarah