EuroFIA Project: Changing Gender Portrayal

1. EuroFIA Project: Changing Gender Portrayal Promoting Employment opportunities for Women in the Perfoming Arts

2. Background to the Project • The idea for the project arose from the work and shared concerns of the EuroFIA « Gender Equality » working group. • There has also been some previous research work highlighting these issues at national level. • The European Year on Equal Opportunities constituted an ideal framework for a project focussing on discrimination, stereotyping and the resulting diminishing of employment opportunities.

3. Primary Aims of the Project • To produce a comprehensive European Research Report highlighting how gender stereotyping impacts on employment opportunities and the image of women in society in general; • To address both the quantative and qualitative aspects of gender stereotyping (ie: the number and nature of roles for women. • To raise awareness of these problems among performers’ unions, theatre and television managers and other decision-makers in the cultural sector;

4. Primary Aims of the Project • Strengthen the partnerships between national performers’ unions and facilitate their joint action on the issue of gender portrayal and gender discrimination; • To raise awareness among the general public of gender stereotyping and the role of the media in shaping people’s perception in society; • To explore avenues for taking these issues forward at European level.

5. Project Activities: Overview • As you know, the project is structured around the following elements: • A questionnaire to be completed by performers in order to gather a European overview of their employment experience; • Structured interviews to be carried out by EuroFIA member unions, to explore the views of managers, artistic directors, casting editors etc.; • A final conference to launch and disseminate the findings of the research.

6. The Questionnaire – until 30/05/08 • Given the complexity and sensitivity of this issue,we were glad to work with an experienced team in Warwick University in the UK; • They worked closely with the steering group to design a questionnaire to capture relevant and measurable data, as well as feelings and opinions; • The questionnaire is designed to be completed online to allow quick and reliable collation of the data; • The success of the questionnaire will absolutely depend on your encouraging your members to complete it.

7. Structured interviews: until 30/06/08 • These interviews are to be carried out by you with perfomers, directors, casting/artistic directors or others who may be willing to share their experience; • They will serve to complete and complement what comes out of the questionnaires; • Sample questions have been prepared by Warwick; • Given that there may not be interviews in all countries, the findings will be presented in an annexe, not as part of the core conclusions.

8. The Final Conference: London, September 2008 • Given that there have been some delays in the launching of the questionnaire, the conference has been postponed until September 2008; • The conference will showcase the findings of the research and be an important moment for communicating them and generating visibility; • It will be an opportunity to include the voices and testimonies of performers themselves; • It will be a good moment to involve casting directors, agents, managers etc. in the discussion; • It will be a good opportunity to examine ways of taking forward the conclusions and recommendations at European and national level.

9. Your Contribution is Vital! • The success of the questionnaire depends on it being widely distributed and completed in all European countries; • The profile of the conference will be raised if you could encourage your members to come and share their experience; • The debate will be enriched and the impact will be greater, if you can ensure that invitations to participate reach agents,casting directors, as well as public authorities in the cultural sector; • Please share all of your ideas and suggestions in relation to how we can make the project a success. • Thank you for your input!