Taylor, M.R. orcid.org/0000-0001-5943-9796 and O'Brien, D. (2017) ‘Culture is a meritocracy’: why creative workers’ attitudes may reinforce social inequality. Sociological Research Online, 22 (4). ISSN 1360-7804
Abstract
The attitudes and values of cultural and creative workers are an important element of explaining current academic interest in inequality and culture. To date, quantitative approaches to this element of cultural and creative inequality have been overlooked, particularly in British research. This article investigates the attitudes of those working in creative jobs with a unique dataset: a web survey of creative workers’ attitudes (n = 2487). Using principal components analysis and regression, we have three main findings. First, in contrast to Richard Florida’s thesis on the attitudes and values of ‘the creative class’, our respondents’ attitudes were no more meritocratic than those of the general population. Second, those with the strongest belief in meritocracy in the sector are those in the most privileged positions, specifically those are best rewarded by the sector. Third, our research provides support for existing qualitative research on attitudes in the cultural sector, in which the worst rewarded workers are most aware of structural inequality. We conclude that the attitudes held by creative workers, and who holds which attitudes, make it unlikely that access to the sector and trajectories of individual progression within the sector will change. These findings also have important implications for current public interest in whether access to creative work is limited to those from privileged backgrounds.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 The Author(s). This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Sociological Research Online. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | attitudes; cultural workers; inequality; meritocracy; principal components analysis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 26 Sep 2017 14:03 |
Last Modified: | 13 Dec 2023 15:25 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications (UK and US) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/1360780417726732 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:121610 |