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Unequal opera-tunities: gender inequality and non-standard work in US opera production

Caitlin Vincent (Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia)
Amanda Coles (Department of Management, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia)

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

ISSN: 2040-7149

Article publication date: 10 October 2023

Issue publication date: 13 March 2024

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines the US opera sector as a means for interrogating how varying forms of non-standard work shape gender inequality in the creative industries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors draw on 16 seasons of opera production data from Operabase.com to conduct a gender-based exploratory data analysis of the key creative roles of conductor, director and designers, as well as the hiring networks through which teams are formed, at the 11 largest opera companies in the United States.

Findings

The authors find that women, as a group, experienced gender-based disadvantage across the key creative roles of opera production, but particularly in the artistic leadership roles of conductor and director. The authors also find that women's exclusion in the field is being further perpetuated by the sector's non-standard and overlapping employment structures, which impacts women practitioners' professional visibility and career opportunities.

Practical implications

The study can help organizations implement strategic hiring practices that acknowledge the relationship between gender inequality and varying forms of non-standard work with the aim of increasing women's representation.

Originality/value

This study work establishes the scale of gender inequality operating within a sector that has received minimal scholarly attention as a site of employment. The study analysis also offers important insight for the wider creative industries and highlights opportunities to redress gender inequality in other sectors where project-based work is prevalent.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the University of Melbourne [ECR 2021].

Citation

Vincent, C. and Coles, A. (2024), "Unequal opera-tunities: gender inequality and non-standard work in US opera production", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Vol. 43 No. 2, pp. 268-282. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-03-2023-0071

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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