E-raamat: Access, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Cultural Organizations: Insights from the Careers of Executive Opera Managers of Color in the US

"Low ticket sales, an aging audience, a shrinking donor base, rising costs - opera is in crisis. Moreover, there is a stifling lack of diversity among opera executives with over 90% of US opera's executives identifying as White. Opera in Australia, Canada, and the U. K. reveals similar problems. What if an inability to recruit and retain diverse executives is a key source of opera's challenges? If more diverse opera executives existed would the art form overcome its struggle to appeal to contemporary society? Given that diversity is often the key to unlocking innovation, what solutions to opera's challenges might emerge from more diverse executives? This is the first research book to investigate the careers of diverse executives and identify factors thatadvanced or impeded their careers. By examining the barriers, opportunities, strategies and experiences in the careers of executive opera managers of color in the U. S., it interrogates the impact of social identities on arts managers' careers and explores how opera might attract and retain more diverse arts managers to ensure its future. It will also serve to inspire Arts Management students who may view their class, disability, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation as a liability in their pursuit ofexecutive careers in Arts Management"--

Analyzing the lack of diversity among opera executives, this book examines the careers of executive opera managers of color in the U.S. By interrogating the impact of race on arts managers’ careers, the author contemplates how opera might attract and retain more racially diverse arts managers to ensure its future.

With a focus on the U.S., research is contextualized via qualitative data to explore, enhance, and institutionalize access, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) in the opera industry. In a revealing series of expert-conducted interviews, the author poses illuminating questions, such as:

• what if an inability to recruit and retain diverse executives is the primary source of opera’s challenges?
• if more racially diverse opera executives existed, would the art form persist in struggling to find its place in contemporary society?
• from where will the next generation of diverse opera managers emerge?

As the magnitude of the global diversity problem grows within the creative and cultural industries, this book serves as a guide for Arts Management practitioners and students who may view their class, different ability, ethnicity, gender, race, or sexual orientation as a liability in their pursuit of executive careers.