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ICS Seminar Series - Sheree Gregory

Date: Thursday 25 August 2016
Time: 11.30am–1pm
Venue: EE.G.36, Western Sydney University, Parramatta South campus

Sheree Gregory

(Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University)

Barriers to Women's Employment Participation in the Cultural Industries

Abstract

The pervasiveness of gender inequality in the media, and entertainment industry more specifically has become an issue of growing public interest, debate and agitation. With award ceremonies featuring the calling out of the industry by recipients such as Patricia Arquette, and prominent female performers advocating for gender equality like Geena Davis, Meryl Streep and Emma Watson (to name just a few), the way in which labour is organised: who works, where and how they work and the opportunities offered or denied, are deeply gendered. Whether it is the gender pay gap, the ongoing presence of the casting couch, the absence of women film directors, the experiences for women and men are strikingly different. Drawing on the findings of a case study supported by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance of how performers manage care and work in film, television and theatre production, this paper examines the layered and gendered barriers to women's participation in the cultural industries. The barriers are mostly hidden, interconnected with what happens within households, and individualised negotiations with agents and producers are buttressed by individualised arrangements with family and extended networks to accommodate complex and changing needs. Despite high unionisation among performers, the overwhelming tendency was to deal with issues individually or as a couple, rather through collective avenues, without reference to the union. The case study provides a context in which the Australian Work/Care Regime (Pocock 2003) can be analysed. Moreover, it has provided the foundation for a second case study (currently in-progress) on gender equality policy initiatives within the Screen Industry which is reworking a 'Cultural Intelligence' approach (Ang 2011).

Biography

Sheree Gregory is a Lecturer in Innovation Management and Human Resources and Management in the School of Business, and member of the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University. She researches issues surrounding equality, work/life balance, and family entrepreneurship. Sheree has jointly edited two monographs on Women and Work (RMIT 2005, 2007), published in high impact journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, contributed to organisational work/life policy, and convened industry-academic forums such as the 2014 Work and Life in Creative Industries symposium (RMIT, University of Melbourne, MEAA). She completed a postdoctoral ARC research fellowship on family business succession where she interviewed CEOs/MDs of family firms and jointly developed a survey utilised across 55 countries and translated into 9 languages. Since commencing at Western Sydney University in 2015, Sheree has been appointed as the Dean's Nominee Early Career Researcher on the School of Business Research Committee; is a recipient of a 2016 Women's Research Fellowship, and serves as Reviews Editor on the Interim Management Executive, and Board of Media International Australia journal (SAGE).