LEADERSHIP GENDER BALANCE IN THE UK DANCE SECTOR 2025

I’ve been working as a Research Associate with AWA DANCE, in collaboration with Coventry University’s Centre for Dance Research (C-DaRe), to research and produce the report ‘Leadership Gender Balance in the UK Dance Sector 2025’. We analysed senior leadership roles in regularly funded dance organisations across England, Scotland and Wales. Through this, we studied 94 organisations and 944 positions to create a snapshot of gender representation in dance leadership.

The research highlights that leadership at the highest level is male dominated. In the 9 highest funded organisations (Band 3 organisations which receive over £1 million in annual funding), 100% of Artistic Directors are men. Alongside this, the data shows that 24.5% of organisations are now adopting shared leadership models - within these, women are more present. We also note an increase in non-binary board members compared to the previous research round in 2023; whilst it’s a small shift, it’s encouraging to see non-binary people beginning to be recognised in leadership spaces.

I enjoyed connecting with so many people across the sector through our verification process - in which every organisation had three opportunities to review the data we gathered about them. 77 organisations verified their data. The enthusiasm to contribute and the high turnout at our online research presentation shows me that sector leaders are listening and that many do care about moving towards change.

A key takeaway for me is the power of collaboration and open discussion. Our research team was comprised of Avatâra Ayuso, Dr Rosa Cisneros and Dr Kathryn Stamp. Our shared reflections and insights throughout the study were invaluable in driving the research forward and creating meaningful findings. I found it affirming to work as part of a research process that modelled collaborative leadership within our own team.

The process reinforced for me that we have the tools to spotlight inequality and move towards a more equitable sector. I’m excited to see how the findings land, what actions people might take from them and what equitable leadership might feel like in practice.

You can read the full report here.