Gender balance achieved: how women have conquered the EU cultural sphere

According to fresh Eurostat data, 2024 was a historic year for gender equality in the European cultural sector. Over the decade, the gap between men and women in this field has narrowed from 6.4 to 0.8 percentage points. Whereas in 2015 men held 53.2 per cent of jobs and women 46.8 per cent, in 2024 these figures are almost equal: 50.4 per cent for men versus 49.6 per cent for women.

For the first time since the beginning of observations (2011), in the majority of EU countries - 16 out of 27 - there are more women than men in culture. This advantage is particularly noticeable in Latvia (+32.6 p.p.) and Estonia (+24.2 p.p.). In contrast, Spain and Italy still have about a 10 per cent male advantage, while in Greece, Romania and Austria the difference has almost disappeared.

However, economic inequalities lurk behind the scenes of numerical equality. The 2022 Structural Executive Survey (SES) of pay levels reveals that 16.1 per cent of women in the cultural sector are classified as low-paid workers (earning less than two-thirds of the national median hourly wage). For men, the figure is 11.2 per cent. The same trends are characteristic of the overall EU labour market: 17.1% of women versus 12.6% of men.

The most pronounced inequality is recorded in the media printing and reproduction sector: here 25.9 per cent of women are low-paid, against 12.4 per cent of men. This is followed by audiovisual production, sound recording and music publishing, with 23.0 per cent of women and 15.1 per cent of men in the low-paid category.

Thus, women's formal presence in the cultural industries is no longer in doubt. But their economic position remains vulnerable. The growing number of women in the industry is a step forward, but the road to full social and financial justice in European culture is not yet complete.