Recording diversity data
ScreenSkills asks all beneficiaries of its services to complete diversity and inclusion monitoring. To offer equal opportunities, prevent discrimination and support underrepresented groups, it is essential to monitor our work. We can only change what we measure.
Data helps us measure success and enables us to identify which of our approaches work and which don’t. At ScreenSkills we monitor to inform decisions on where to direct our resources and services. It helps us create a culture of diversity and inclusion in the screen industries. Our approach is supported with statistics and research and built on best practice guidelines from the Government and organisations such as ACAS.
To understand more about ScreenSkills diversity and inclusion monitoring, see each question we ask, how it was developed and why we ask it, please see the guide to diversity and inclusion monitoring.
Reporting 'prefer not to say' responses
Respondents who answer ‘prefer not to say’ to diversity and inclusion questions will not be counted towards targets. From December 2024 we changed how we calculate our diversity and inclusion percentages. We now calculate the percentage as a proportion of people who gave us a positive response to a diversity and inclusions question i.e. we exclude the “prefer not to say” responses from the denominator in that calculation. Before that date we calculated the percentage as a proportion of the total population. This ensures that reported percentages reflect only those who provided a definitive answer.
Reporting 'self-describe' free-text responses
Respondents who answered ‘Prefer to self-describe’ and then gave a free-text answer will in most cases not be counted towards targets (with the exception of ethnicity self-description which already fall under an ethnic group heading, e.g. Asian Prefer to self-describe).
Grouping diversity data against targets
ScreenSkills diversity and inclusion targets for the initiatives it supports are to achieve a participation rate of:
- For gender, 50% female
- For ethnicity, 20% minority ethnic
- For disability, 10% disabled and people who have a learning difference, impairment or long-term condition
- For sexual orientation and gender identity, 10% lesbian, gay, bisexual & trans
- For nations and regions, 50% outside London
ScreenSkills collects a range of diversity and inclusion data to inform its investment decisions and as part of its mission to improve inclusion in the industry. There may be different targets for specific programmes and different funding streams with the aim of improving inclusion.
To report against these groups, we will translate the diversity data we collect into the above categories, using the following dimensions:
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as:
- Woman
Not included are those who identified themselves as:
- Intersex
- Man
- Non-binary
- Prefer to self-describe
Those who answer “prefer not to say” are not counted towards the target and are excluded from the population when calculating percentages.
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as:
- Yes (disabled)
Not included are those who identified themselves as
- No (not disabled)
Those who answer “prefer not to say” are not counted towards the target and are excluded from the population when calculating percentages.
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as:
- Bi/Bisexual
- Gay man
- Gay woman/lesbian
And/or those who identified themselves as:
- Yes (trans)
Not included are those who identified themselves as:
- Heterosexual
- Prefer to self-describe sexual orientation
And identified themselves as:
- No (not trans)
- Prefer to self-describe trans status
Those who answer ‘prefer not to say’ to their sexual identity and did not answer ‘Yes’ to the ‘Do you identify as trans?’ question are not counted towards the target and are excluded from the population when calculating percentages.
Included in this target are those who identified themselves as:
- Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: African
- Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: Caribbean
- Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: Prefer not to say
- Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: Prefer to self-describe
- East or Southeast Asian/British East or British Southeast Asian: Chinese
- East or Southeast Asian/British East or British Southeast Asian: Prefer not to say
- East or Southeast Asian/British East or British Southeast Asian: Prefer to self-describe
- Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: White and Black African
- Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: White and Black Caribbean
- Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: White and East or Southeast Asian
- Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: White and South Asian
- Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: Prefer not to say
- Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: Prefer to self-describe
- Other ethnic group: Afghan
- Other ethnic group: Arab
- Other ethnic group: Hispanic/Latin American
- Other ethnic group: Iranian/Persian
- Other ethnic group: Jewish
- Other ethnic group: Kurdish
- Other ethnic group: Romanian
- Other ethnic group: Sikh
- Other ethnic group: Tamil
- Other ethnic group: Turkish
- Other ethnic group: Prefer not to say
- Other ethnic group: Prefer to self-describe
- South Asian/South Asian British: Bangladeshi
- South Asian/South Asian British: Indian
- South Asian/South Asian British: Pakistani
- South Asian/South Asian British: Prefer not to say
- South Asian/South Asian British: Prefer to self-describe
- White: Gypsy or Traveler
- White: Roma
Not included are those who identified themselves as:
- Other Prefer to self-describe
- White British
- White English
- White Irish
- White Northern Irish
- White Prefer not to say
- White Prefer to self-describe
- White Scottish
- White Welsh
Those who answer “prefer not to say ethnic background” are not counted towards the target and are excluded from the population when calculating percentages.
Included in this target are those who entered current postcodes within the regions of:
- East of England
- East Midlands
- North East England
- North West England
- South East England
- South West England
- West Midlands
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
Not included are those who entered a current postcode within the regions of:
- London
People who give us a postcode and we are unable to identify a UK nation or region from that given postcode are not counted towards the target and are excluded from the population when calculating percentages.
Included in this total are those who identified themselves as attending:
- Attended school outside the UK
- State-run or state-funded school - non-selective
- State-run or state-funded school - selective on academic, faith or other grounds
Not included are those who identified themselves as attending:
- Independent or fee-paying school – no bursary
- Independent of fee-paying school – bursary
- Don’t know
- Prefer to self-describe
Those who answer “prefer not to say” are not counted towards the total and are excluded from the population when calculating percentages.
Included in this total are those who identified themselves as growing up with parental or guardian occupations of:
- Routine manual and service occupations
- Semi-routine manual and service occupations
- Long-term unemployment
- This question does not apply (e.g. because I was raised in care)
Not included are those who identified growing up with the parental or guardian occupations of:
- Clerical and intermediate occupations
- Middle or junior managers
- Modern professional occupations
- Senior managers and administrators
- Technical and craft occupations
- Traditional professional occupations
Those who answer “prefer not to say” are not counted towards the total and are excluded from the population when calculating percentages.
Because ScreenSkills has adopted a self-identification model of diversity monitoring, we are reliant on our beneficiaries self-selecting their personal characteristics. This may result in small margins of error due to the individual choices of those completing monitoring.
Last updated 3 April, 2025: The minority ethnic target was updated so that a broader range of ethnicities are included in ScreenSkills’ monitoring data to remain up to date with industry benchmarks and general population statistics.