Robert Gordon University (RGU) in partnership with Edinburgh University are conducting a study to “Drive forward change” for women working in the media. This survey, commissioned by Engender Scotland and Gender Equal Media Scotland (GEMS), asks women in the arts, who are based in Scotland to share their experiences.
The project aims to find obstacles to women’s participation in Scottish media and cultural industries. Looking into how they can help and advance women’s involvement across media and cultural industries (culture, gaming and communications, etc).
The survey sets out to highlight the kind of initiatives that have been successful for improving the participation and representation of women in the media and how to achieve change. In doing this, they hope to find how to help women from a range of diverse backgrounds achieve greater participation within the media.
What information are they looking for?
The survey is looking for the personal experiences of women working within the arts and creative industries. Both positive and negative. As well as thoughts on how change can be achieved. If you have any personal experiences of positive things that have helped, such as organisations and events. In addition, any experiences of situations that were detrimental to you entering or progressing within your industry. Overall, it’s about how women’s personal experiences can feed into wider discussions.
Why is this important?
Scottish Games Network spoke with Fiona McKay, Journalism course leader at RGU. When asked about why this project is important the self-professed gamer, Fiona, had this to say:
“It’s really important to capture the experiences of women in these sectors”
The RGU course leader continued:
“The project is run by Engender and GEMS so they’re feeding into the research and development of the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls long term vision is for women’s media body for Scotland”
To overview the aims of the project Dr McKay had this to say:
“It’s about giving additional insights into intersectional gender inequality and sexism across all of these sectors. It’s about enacting change because we know that things are far from perfect in these industries in terms of gender equality. It’s about how we enact change and help diverse representation across the board”
When is the deadline and where can I go to participate?
Monday 21st June is the last day of the survey with those behind it collecting all of the information submitted. That means that this weekend is your last chance to participate and share your experience of working within any of the previously mentioned sectors.
The survey itself can be found by clicking this link or by following the URL below.
https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e4pqsYmK4IzdH0i
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash