Gender Equity Policy (GEP) Analysis

The project „GEP Analysis: Assessing, Understanding, and Modelling the Impact of Gender Equity Policies (GEP) in the Film Industry“ (04/2021–03/2024) aims at redefining how we understand and address gender inequality in the film industries internationally. As part of the joint Open Research Area (ORA) for the Social Sciences programme it is funded by Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR), France; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany; Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), United Kingdom; and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

The GEP Analysis project will focus on the industry norms, structures and practices that constrain gender equality in the screen industries. Using a mixed method, interdisciplinary approach the project will draw on quantitative and qualitative empirical media research, cultural policy studies, communication science and network data science to investigate two core research questions:

1. What are the industry norms, structures and practices that constrain women’s participation in the international screen industries?

2. Which policy levers and interventions can most effectively deliver fundamental shifts in industry norms, structures and practices and improve women’s participation in the global screen industries?

GEP Analysis will specifically work across the social sciences to combine analyses of heterogeneous quantitative data with analyses of the policy and decision-making contexts that shape the political economy of specific national screen production industries. This evidence base will provide the foundation for an analysis of the preconditions as well as the industry programs and public policy/regulatory interventions required to create foundational change.

As a multidisciplinary cooperation under the direction and overall coordination of PI Prof. Dr. Skadi Loist (Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, Germany), the project combines expertise in different methodological approaches and disciplines as well as extensive empirical knowledge on relevant geographical areas (Canada, Germany and the UK in their international context).  For the first time, qualitative expert interviews and the social relationships of the industry are combined with economic and financial data in the interaction of various subprojects for media research.

The subproject, led by CI Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Prommer (University of Rostock, Germany), is creating a new database that combines data sets on women's participation in the European, German, British and Canadian screen industries with data from the other subprojects. 

The subproject, led by PI Prof. Dr. Doris R. Eikhof (University of Glasgow, Great Britain) and CI Dr. Amanda Coles (Deakin University, Australia), will provide an overview of existing policy measures, conduct interviews with experts and exchange information with representatives of the industry. 

The subproject, led by PI Prof. Dr. Deb Verhoeven (University of Alberta, Canada), uses the latest big-data and networking methods to model and visualize the complex interrelationships of industry structures.