Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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Women should have half share of top arts board posts, says culture minister Margaret Hodge
Publicity campaign launched to boost female numbers in board rooms
A publicity campaign aimed at women from all walks of life to get them to apply for positions on the boards of arts and sports bodies, was launched today by Culture Minister Margaret Hodge.
At present only one in three of those filling the 600 or so governing posts on DCMS arts and sporting bodies are women, and Margaret Hodge has set a firm target to raise this proportion to fifty per cent.
The bodies concerned include Arts Council England, English Heritage, The British Museum, Sport England and the National lottery Commission. They have combined budgets, from the public purse, of around £2 billion a year.
Launching the campaign, which will see ads appear in selected titles until the end of the year, Margaret Hodge said:
"Too often when I meet the boards of cultural and sporting bodies in our sector, the number of women present is woefully small. We're great at getting more - and different - people through the front door as visitors, but the make up of the Board Room has got to keep up too. Some organisations have an excellent track record in this area and are all the more successful because of it.
"Addressing this issue isn't about political correctness. It isn't about box-ticking. It's about acknowledging that women have long since earned their place at the table and, where they are missing from the mix, it is right to intervene to correct it."
The publicity campaign will see 130,000 leaflets distributed around the country, and made available through public bodies in the sector and other professional associations. It will be supported by targeted PR activity, paid advertising and inserts placed in sector magazines.
There will also be a link on the department's website: http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/5254.aspx
Public enquiries 020 7211 6020
http://www.culture.gov.uk
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
http://www.culture.gov.uk
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