French cultural sector report highlights disability employment gaps

A new report by Laetitia Bernard has highlighted significant underrepresentation of people with disabilities within the French cultural sector. Presented to Culture Minister Catherine Pegard and Autonomy Minister Camille Galliard-Minier, the document reveals that while the public sector nearly meets its 6% legal target for disabled workers, the private cultural sector lags at approximately 3%. The disparity is even more pronounced among intermittent entertainment workers, where the rate drops to 1.5%.

The report also notes a qualitative gap, observing that employees with disabilities are largely concentrated in lower-level positions and are almost entirely absent from senior management roles.

To address these issues, the report proposes 17 specific recommendations aimed at all stages of a professional career. These measures include improving access to artistic practices and higher education, adapting recruitment processes, and modifying the intermittent worker status to accommodate specific professional constraints. These actions align with commitments made during the National Disability Conference to improve accessibility in creative spaces and professional training.