Monitoring and Studying Gender Equality in the Cultural Labour Market

Mainstreaming policies are aimed at changing the gender balance through accompanying and proactive measures such as quotas, education, earmarked financing, support to women’s networks etc. They can change the composition and modes of operation of formal gatekeeping systems but they do not penetrate the world of informal gate-keeping systems or managerial decision-making.

In this context, national governments and the EU should consider adopting instruments which would regularly monitor both the macro and micro level gate-keeping systems and how this relates to organisational and managerial functions and practices. Such monitoring instruments should pay particular attention to public institutions and funding programmes at different stages of the cultural production chain including the effects on the professional development of artists, the supply, access and recognition of their works in the marketplace. In this context, it has been proposed that a new study be undertaken to examine gender and gate-keeping in the culture or creative industries where basic information is still lacking.

Future regular monitoring activities could be co-ordinated by the newly proposed "European Gender Institute". On the national level, governments could use the results to, for example, question those institutions which do not proactively implement equal opportunity policies and, as a consequence, reduce the public funds they receive.

Recent monitoring initiatives using the methodology of the Culture-Gates study are also being undertaken in the countries of South-East Europe by non-governmental organisations such as Balkankult [2]. The Gender Task Force of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe should encourage and support such projects being developed and carried out in the cultural sector.

[2] In 2003, Balkankult initiated a satellite regional project of Culture-Gates focussing on the position of women in the field of culture in Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro and Albania. For more informationsee http://www.balkankult.org.