Gender Equality Policy in the Arts, Culture and Media – Comparative Perspectives

BY 31.10.17

GERMANY is still lagging behind its neighbours when it comes to women in culture and media, according to a comprehensive survey of the role of women in the arts, culture and media in selected European countries, carried out by the Hertie School of Governance under the academic direction of Helmut K. Anheier, and supported by the German government’s Commissioner for Culture and Media.

Only 22 percent of operational managers in Germany’s large media organisations are women, for example, below the EU average of 33 percent female executives. Germany's gender pay gap, in the arts and entertainment sector, is clearly above the average among the countries studied (29.8 percent in Germany / 19.4 percent on average for the countries studied). Pensions for German women also represent the largest gender-based difference among the countries studied (46 percent in Germany / 38 percent EU average).

The findings were recently presented at a round table presentation with Monika Grütters, Germany’s State Minister for Culture and Media. “The study published today allows us to look outside the box and learn from the experiences of our neighbours,” says Minister Grütters. “We will now examine the study and its proposals in detail. I find it interesting to note that several of the countries studied created mentoring programmes. This shows that we are on the right track, for example, with the mentoring programme we have launched for artists". Download the full report here.