Thread by @LEEandLOW

Where Is the Diversity in Publishing? The 2019 Diversity Baseline Survey Results blog.leeandlow.com/2020/01/28/201…

The 2019 Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS for short) took us an entire year to complete. Much of that time was spent recruiting publishing houses, review journals, and literary agencies to participate. Ultimately 153 companies participated, including all Big Five publishers.

Special thanks go to Dr. Laura Jimenez @booktoss and her team at Boston University, who handled the data and provided analysis. #dbs2019

@booktoss Since the first DBS four years ago, much has changed. New president, new movements within and outside our industry, a greater overall focus on diversity. But: the numbers haven't changed. #dbs2019

The publishing industry is pretty much *just as White* as it was four years ago. Some departments, like Editorial, are even MORE White than before. #dbs2019

Some White authors/pub staff may feel like the recent focus on diversity has been too intense, that the industry is overcorrecting. But these numbers prove that's totally false. #dbs2019

The only area where we saw *significant* diversity was among interns. 49% of interns identify as BIPOC; 49% are on the LGBTQIA spectrum; 22% have a disability. This is exciting! But what kind of industry are they walking into. Can it keep them? #dbs2019

This was the first time that we also included literary agencies in the survey. But it will come as no surprise that their demographics mirror the publishing industry's demographics pretty closely. #dbs2019

The overall industry numbers did drop from 79% White in 2015 to 76% White in 2019. But @booktoss says given the increased sample size this time, that does not meet the bar for statistically significant change. #dbs2019

@booktoss The #dbs2019 also looked at gender. As expected, the majority of the industry is cis women. Of course, there are more cis men at the Executive level. This is in line with other female-dominated industries where there are still more men at the top.

This survey DID see a statistically significant increase in the number of respondents who do not identify as straight/heterosexual. This is largely due to an increase in respondents who self identify as bi and pansexual. #dbs2019

There is also a statistically significant change in the disability category: overall we went from 4% self reporting a disability in 2015 to 11% in 2019. This may reflect a change in the way we think today about chronic illness and mental health issues. #dbs2019