Reduced inequalities Archives - Page 2 of 3

Accessible Books Consortium (ABC)

In June 2014, the Accessible Books Consortium was launched in order to boost the number of books in accessible formats for people around the globe who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled. The ABC also encourages publishers to commit to accessible publishing, adopt accessibility features within their publishing processes, and include descriptions of the accessibility features of their products in the information they provide to others in the book supply chain.

The Diversity Baseline Survey

In 2015, Lee and Low Books released a survey on diversity conduced in 2015. The survey aimed to establish concrete statistics regarding diversity in the publishing workforce, and ask the question: if the people who work in publishing are not a diverse group, how can diverse voices be represented in books? It concluded that the workforce in North America was overwhelmingly white and straight. When the survey was repeated in 2019, the numbers reflected essentially the same demographic statistics.

2018 Canadian Book Publishing Diversity Baseline Survey

The Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP) released the results of its 2018 survey measuring diversity in the English-language Canadian book publishing industry – the first survey of its kind in the country. Key findings of the survey were that people with indigenous and non-white backgrounds are underrepresented in the industry, with 82 percent of the respondents having identified as white. The survey also included data on age, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability.

UK Publishing Industry Diversity & Inclusion Workforce Survey

In 2017, the UK PA launched an industry-wide 10-point action plan to ensure that publishing reflects the UK population. As part of this plan, the PA committed to do an annual survey of the workforce demographics of UK publishing houses, the first of which took place in 2019. The survey gathered information on diversity, inclusion, and workforce demographics – such as gender balance, women in leadership roles, disabilities/impairments, mental health, education level, sexual orientation, and more.

Egmont Social Compliance Programme

In 2005, Egmont, a Danish publisher, implemented the Egmont Social Compliance Programme to ensure that all suppliers respect human rights and safeguard the salary conditions and safety of their workers. The programme includes, for instance, the mapping of manufacturers; their health and safety assessments, social audits, and their compliance to the Egmont code of conduct. The resulting information, along with a report of their CO2 emissions has been compiled into a report.

PublisHer

PublisHer started as an informal group in 2018, when industry leaders Bodour Al Qasimi of the IPA and Maria Pallante of the Association of American Publishers launched a network to promote women’s role in shaping leadership in the publishing business. The group seeks to focus on how exclusion and gender bias affect women in their careers and impacts on content and diversity in books, and how diversity and inclusivity can be prioritized in the publishing industry.

Research4Life

The goal of Research4Life is to reduce the knowledge gap between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries. Since 2002, the five programmes have provided researchers in low- and middle-income countries with free or low-cost online access to leading journals and books in the fields of health, agriculture, environment, applied sciences and law.

The Literacy Project

The Publishers Association (UK) has, in collaboration with the Department for International
Trade, launched The Literacy Project. In this targeted and concentrated initiative, the goal is to match the assets of the publishing industry (people, authors and books) with organisations and local initiatives, in a bid to drive up low levels of literacy and facilitate social mobilisation in the country’s poorest communities.

The Pearson Affordable Learning Fund

The Pearson Affordable Learning Fund, launched July 2012, invests in companies that build solutions for affordable and high quality education services across Africa, Asia and Latin America. For instance, Pearson has made investments in some school groups that supply low cost schools for students in countries including Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and the Philippines. This will enable children to access education where it is not provided by local governments.

Free access to academic ressources during the pandemic

Since the beginning of the crisis and on several occasions, French scientific and higher education publishers made their e-books or their databases freely accessible online, in order to ensure teaching continuity.

Category: Reduced inequalities