IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ausman/v48y2023i4p732-753.html

By a long shot: Power, devaluation and discrimination in a toxic cultural workforce

Author

Listed:
  • Bronwyn Coate

    (School of Economics, Finance & Marketing, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia)

  • Ben Eltham

    (Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia)

  • Deb Verhoeven

    (University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada)

Abstract

Drawing on data collected for a comprehensive workforce survey of the audio-visual camera profession in Australia ( n  = 582), this article investigates discrimination and devaluation in screen industry workplaces. Employing a mixed method approach, we analyse the intersection of gender, sexuality and ethnicity to show that group differences play an important role in understanding workplace cultures defined by power imbalances. To address the problem of these toxic workplaces, we propose the importance of attending to job precarity and suggest the need for policymakers, guilds and trade unions to work collaboratively to set and enforce standards of workplace equality and respect. JEL Classification: Z13

Suggested Citation

  • Bronwyn Coate & Ben Eltham & Deb Verhoeven, 2023. "By a long shot: Power, devaluation and discrimination in a toxic cultural workforce," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 48(4), pages 732-753, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:48:y:2023:i:4:p:732-753
    DOI: 10.1177/03128962231179379
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03128962231179379
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/03128962231179379?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gaddis, S. Michael, 2015. "Discrimination in the Credential Society: An Audit Study of Race and College Selectivity in the Labor Market," SocArXiv 6qjue, Center for Open Science.
    2. Michelle Ryan, 2022. "To advance equality for women, use the evidence," Nature, Nature, vol. 604(7906), pages 403-403, April.
    3. Simone Ferriani & Raffaele Corrado & Carlo Boschetti, 2005. "Organizational Learning under Organizational Impermanence: Collaborative Ties in Film Project Firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 9(3), pages 257-285, September.
    4. Sophie Hennekam & Dawn Bennett, 2017. "Sexual Harassment in the Creative Industries: Tolerance, Culture and the Need for Change," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 417-434, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nicolás Ajzenman & Bruno Ferman & Pedro C. Sant'Anna, 2025. "Discrimination in the Formation of Academic Networks: A Field Experiment on #EconTwitter," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 357-375, September.
    2. Sarah Schmalenberger & Patricia Maddox, 2019. "Female Brass Musicians Address Gender Parity, Gender Equity, and Sexual Harassment: A Preliminary Report on Data from the Brass Bodies Study," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Nam, Yunju, 2020. "Parents’ financial assistance for college and black-white disparities in post-secondary educational attainment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    4. Sophie Hennekam & Dawn Bennett & Sally Macarthur & Cat Hope & Talisha Goh, 2018. "An international perspective on managing career as a woman composer," Post-Print hal-03232754, HAL.
    5. Yao Lu & Xiaoguang Li & Benjamin Elbers, 2024. "Education-Occupation Linkage in the Highly-Educated Workforce: Patterns and Sources of Difference by Race/Ethnicity," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(2), pages 461-482, April.
    6. Rabia Manzoor & Wayne B. Gray, 2025. "Decomposition Analysis of Racial Income Inequality in the United States," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 70(1), pages 3-26, March.
    7. repec:osf:socarx:e5hfc_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Kuhn, Florian & Chanci, Luis, 2024. "Racial disparities in labor outcomes: The effects of hiring discrimination over the business cycle," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 801-817.
    9. Udo Staber, 2008. "Network Evolution in Cultural Industries," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(5), pages 569-578.
    10. Cristina B. Gibson & Rebekah Dibble, 2013. "Excess May Do Harm: Investigating the Effect of Team External Environment on External Activities in Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 697-715, June.
    11. Marina Fischer & Susanne Veit & Pichit Buspavanich & Gertraud Stadler, 2025. "Turning the spotlight: Hostile behavior in creative higher education and links to mental health in marginalized groups," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, January.
    12. Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, 2010. "Montreal’s Technological and Cultural Clusters Strategy: The Case of the Multimedia, and Film and Audiovisual Production," Chapters, in: Peter Karl Kresl (ed.), Economic Strategies for Mature Industrial Economies, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Fraenkel, Rebecca Cannon, 2022. "Local labor markets and job match quality: Teachers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    14. Sabogal Camargo, A.M., 2021. "Passion, precarity and inequality? Working conditions of urban dancers in Colombia," ISS Working Papers - General Series 135150, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    15. Michael D. Bloem, 2026. "Time to baccalaureate degree in the labor market: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(1), January.
    16. Melo, Vitor & Rocha, Hugo Vaca Pereira & Sigaud, Liam & Warren, Patrick L. & Gaddis, S. Michael, 2024. "Understanding Discrimination in College Admissions: A Field Experiment," SocArXiv 5ctms, Center for Open Science.
    17. Luca Fumarco & Benjamin Harrell & Patrick Button & David Schwegman & E Dils, 2020. "Gender Identity, Race, and Ethnicity-based Discrimination in Access to Mental Health Care: Evidence from an Audit Correspondence Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 28164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Michael Hoyler & Allan Watson, 2019. "Framing city networks through temporary projects: (Trans)national film production beyond ‘Global Hollywood’," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(5), pages 943-959, April.
    19. Natasha Quadlin & Jordan A. Conwell & Shiva Rouhani, 2024. "The Economic Context of Higher Education Expansion: Race, Gender, and Household Finances Across Cohorts and Generations," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 430-443, June.
    20. Luca Fumarco & S. Michael Gaddis & Francesco Sarracino & Iain Snoddy, 2024. "sendemails: An automated email package with multiple applications," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 24(1), pages 138-160, March.
    21. Gaddis, S. Michael & Quadlin, Natasha & Larsen, Edvard Nergård & Crabtree, Charles & Holbein, John B., 2025. "Missing Results of Discrimination: A Systematically Comparative Meta-Analysis and Re-Examinations of Racial, Gender, and Intersectional Discrimination using Correspondence Audits," SocArXiv nd2y6_v1, Center for Open Science.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:48:y:2023:i:4:p:732-753. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.agsm.edu.au .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.