Actors’ Equity Association Publishes Hiring Bias and Wage Gaps Report on Theatre in 2021

Actors’ Equity Association, the national union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers working in live theatre, has published Progress During an Atypical Year: Hiring Bias and Wage Gaps in Theatre in 2021. The latest installment in Equity’s series of Hiring Bias and Wage Gaps reports, this document examines employment opportunity and average salaries for members of the union in 2021. This report analyzes the distribution of new contracts and the average weekly salaries among six distinct and intersecting protected identity categories: race/ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability and veteran status. This report also examines the intersection of some of these identities to see how age/race, age/gender and race/gender shift these distributions. The found that the industry may be making progress towards diversity and equity in union jobs for stage managers and actors.

“Transforming our industry is a group project, as well as a long game; it’s urgent that we continue to collectively rededicate ourselves to this work,” said Kate Shindle, president of Actors’ Equity Association. “It’s my hope that the data presented here will inspire all of us working for change to consider how we can level the playing field within our own spheres of influence.” Read the full report here.