The state of diversity among leadership roles within Canada's largest arts and cultural institutions

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-02-2021-0054
• Published date: 12 August 2022
• Date: 12 August 2022
• Pages: 30-46
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Charlie Wall-Andrews,Rochelle Wijesingha,Wendy Cukier,Owais Lightwala

The state of diversity among

leadership roles within Canada’s

largest arts and

cultural institutions

Charlie Wall-Andrews

Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University,

Toronto, Canada

Rochelle Wijesingha

McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

Wendy Cukier

Diversity Institute, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, and

Owais Lightwala

The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada

Abstract

Purpose –This paper aims to answer the following research questions: Does the Canadian Arts Summit’s

membership (i.e. Canada’s largest cultural institutions) reflect Canada’s diversity? What is the state of diversity

among leadership roles within Canada’s largest cultural institutions when viewed through a geographical,

gender and racial diversity, and intersectional lens?

Design/methodology/approach –Employing a geographic, gender, racial diversity and intersectional lens,

the authors investigated the largest and most influentialarts and cultural organizations in Canada (n5125) to

examine their leadership diversity. The authors found that there is a disconnect between the diversity of

Canada and the leadership representation among the largest arts organizations. The authors rationalize the

management implications of a lack of diversity leading Canada’s cultural sector.

Findings –The leadership of major arts organizations in Canada does not reflect the diversity of Canada’s

population. For example, among 125 Canadian Arts Summit organizations, only 5.7% of CEOs are racialized

compared to 94.3% who are White. The findings show similar results for lack of diversity in the Artistic

Director and Chair of the Board roles.

Originality/value –There is limited research using this methodology to investigate leadership diversity,

especially in the arts and culture sector. This research can create a benchmark for the sector to improve the

status quo. The value of this research aims to encourage policy actors and arts leaders to address diversity and

inclusion within their organizations and the communities they aim to serve. This research provides the

foundation for future studies exploring leadership diversity and representation in the Canadian arts sector.

Keywords Diversity, Leadership, Arts organizations, Arts management, Ceremonial compliance, Canada,

Public policy

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Arts and culture can positively impact society in a broad number of ways including economic

growth, civic engagement, social inclusion, and better health and well-being (Crossick and

EDI

41,9

30

© Charlie Wall-Andrews, Rochelle Wijesingha, Wendy Cukier and Owais Lightwala. Published by

Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for

both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication

and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/

legalcode.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 22 February 2021

Revised 31 August 2021

19 December 2021

Accepted 7 January 2022

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 41 No. 9, 2022

pp. 30-46

Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-02-2021-0054

Kaszynska, 2016). The sector added $53.1 billion to our gross domestic product (GDP) and

accounted for 666,500 jobs in 2017 (Statistics Canada, 2017b). In 2019, the cultural labour

force accounted for 851,456 jobs (The Conference Board of Canada, 2019). Arts and culture

play a significant role in improving the quality of life of individuals as well as their

communities (Ontario Arts Council, 2017).

Given the importance of diversity and the roles arts play in promoting pluralism, arts

organizations should be positioned to champion diversity (Mitchell, 2006). This obligation is

especially true because these organizations benefit from public resources, in the form of

government grants, contributions, and income tax credits for donations to charitable non-

profit organizations. In recent times, there has been increased attention to equity, diversity,

and inclusion (EDI) efforts in many sectors including the arts and cultural sector (Arts

Consulting Group, 2021). For example, the 2016–2021 strategic plan for Canadian Council of

the Arts states:“Canada’s major arts organizations will be models of diversity and innovation

...Their programming and institutional decisions will reflect Canada’s diversity –including its

cultural diversity, Deaf and disability communities, and official language minority communities

(Canada Council for the Arts, 2016).

Diversity and inclusion are also linked to organizational performance. Companies with

greaterdiversity have better performance(Turban et al., 2019;Chrobot-Mason and Aramovich,

2013).Studies show that organizationswith more gender diverseleaders are 15% more likely to

have greaterfinancial returns (Hunt et al.,2015)and experience greater innovationand growth

for the organization(Dawson et al., 2016;Postet al., 2021;Glassand Cook, 2017). Board member

diversity can lead to higher levels of social performance and fundraising results (Siciliano,

1996). Organizations that commit to increasing ethno-racialdiversity realized improved board

performance when it came to fiduciar y performance, stakeholder engagement, and

organizational responsiveness (Fredette and Bernstein, 2019). Most of all, having diverse

representation canhelp organizations be more relevant to the audiences they aspire to reach,

which results in sustainable audiencedevelopment (Simon, 2016).

Organizationsthat commit to more diversity and inclusionalso report better employee job

performanceand commitment (Cho and Mor Barak,2008), a benefit that can make a significant

impact inan industry where non-profitsalaries are generallyfar lower than their private sector

counterparts.The effects of diversityin the workplace are also deepenedover time, with teams

building more meaningful relationships over longer periods (Harrison et al.,1998). Even the

perceptions of diversity can significantly improve organizational performance (Kundu and

Mor, 2017), andleadership roles are crucialfor influencing internaland external perceptions of

an organization.

Shaping the future of arts in Canada requires more diverse voices at the table (van

Ostaijen and Jhagroe, 2015). Increasingly, there is evidence that the expectations of audiences

and funders are placing more emphasis on diversity and inclusion in art. As community

demographics are changing, so are tastes and preferences—but racialized artists, voices, and

art forms have often been excluded in Canada’s arts and cultural sector because of systemic

discrimination. Despite the growing diversity of communities and attempts to reach new and

diverse arts audiences, major organizations continue to represent mostly White, educated,

middle-class people (Glow et al., 2019). In fact, many people cannot afford to attend arts events

due to the high cost of admission prices (Moss, 2015).

Dominant artistic practices are rooted in cultural traditions that favour European ideals of

artistic excellence and are, by their nature, exclusive of other cultural practices. For example,

South Asian Canadians represent the single largest visible minority group in Canada, yet

none of the Summit member arts organizations are mandated to represent Indian classical

dance or music—with both art forms having a tradition spanning several thousand years.

Even with greater encouragement to increase EDI representation through funding policies,

the diversity of Canadian arts organizations may be fundamentally limited by the narrow

State of

diversity in

Canadian Arts

31