Artnet, in partnership with the Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA), released its second annual "Hardwiring Change" report, titled "Buying Back Time," at Deutsche Bank’s London headquarters. The report reveals that nearly half of Gen Z and millennial women are considering leaving the arts within five years, citing inadequate pay, opaque advancement criteria, and administrative overload. A panel discussion featuring five arts leaders, including British Pavilion curator Ese Jade Onojeuro and 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair founder Touria El Glaoui, explored these findings, highlighting that 76% of women aged 35–54 face structural barriers linked to gender, race, or class, and that Black and Asian women report race as an even bigger barrier than gender.
This matters because nearly 80% of the arts workforce is women, making the potential mid-career talent drain a critical threat to the industry’s future leadership and diversity. The report underscores that retention—driven by fair pay, clear career progression, and equitable distribution of administrative burdens—is as important as hiring. It also warns that while women are increasingly using AI tools to manage overload, AI may put more women’s jobs at risk without institutional guardrails. The findings call for urgent structural changes to prevent losing a generation of female talent just as they are poised to move into leadership roles.