The music industry is a challenging profession to work in for many. The long hours, with lots of the work taking place during the evening, have not made the working environment inclusive for parents, carers, those with disabilities or long-term illnesses, and others.

This can have a profound impact on many creative artists’ careers, with women – who still often tend to take on the bulk of caring responsibilities – disproportionately affected. By thinking about how you can foster inclusive practices, you can help to change this.

Every year, thousands of women leave the workplace. Losing these women is bad for them, bad for the industry, and bad for the economy. Many of these women could be supported to stay, if offered appropriate flexibility and reasonable adjustments. By thinking through what you can do to better support women within the music industry, you can help to retain their talent.

The practical steps you can take will depend on the size of your organisation. These might include adapting your workplace culture to become more flexible and inclusive, adopting new policies, or putting staff networks in place. In this article, you will first consider how setting up a mentoring or shadowing scheme can help to support women’s career development. You will then consider how you can better support parents and careers and those going through menopause and perimenopause.

The power of mentoring and shadowing

It is likely that you already have a programme of staff development and continuing professional development in place within your organisation. You might want to consider augmenting this by setting up a workplace mentorship or shadowing scheme.

Mentoring and shadowing schemes can be beneficial for all, not only for women employees. Schemes for women can be highly effective, however, and are used in a wide range of professional settings, including Advance HE’s Aurora Programme.

Workplace mentorship and shadowing schemes can be extremely effective in developing skills and aiding enculturation within a specific working context or industry. Mentorship schemes typically pair someone in the early stages of their career with an experienced colleague who is able to offer guidance and advice to support the mentee’s development. Shadowing is very similar to mentoring but is more applied. Participants in shadowing schemes observe professionals going about their work, thereby gaining insight and knowledge into what their jobs involve in practice and how they go about doing them.

There are many potential benefits from participating in a mentoring or shadowing scheme for both mentees/shadows and for mentors/those being shadowed. Mentees/shadows have the opportunity to benefit from an individualised development opportunity, to learn from an experienced colleague, and to gain inside knowledge into how particular roles work and how they can be done successfully. Participation in such schemes is also often highly beneficial for their overall career development and work experience. Mentors/those being shadowed have the opportunity to pass on their knowledge and experience, to contribute to developing the next generation, and often also find that they learn new things too from the process or the person who they work with.

Issues to consider when setting up mentorship/shadow schemes

Although mentorship and shadowing schemes are both extremely powerful workplace learning tools, careful thought has to be given to how they are set up. Schemes have to provide mentees/shadows safe, confidential spaces in which they feel empowered to ask questions and raise issues. To help ensure this, pairings should avoid potential power hierarchies, conflicts of interest, and should never be between a line manager and a direct report.

If possible, training should be provided for mentors/those being shadowed and mentees/shadows. A clear set of principles and code of conduct should be drawn up, which everyone participating is asked to sign up to. Ideally, schemes should involve some form of independent third-party oversight and/or supervision, so that another person (who is not party to any of the confidential exchanges between the participating pairs) is available should anything go wrong.

Support for parents and carers

Many different types of carers and caring exist. Carers include parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, foster parents, carers and legal guardians. Care can involve children, elders, partners, other dependents or family members, or even friends and neighbours. Although women often continue to undertake the bulk of unpaid caring responsibilities, parenting and caring also affect anyone, and it’s also important to be inclusive of all types of carers and caring.

Caring responsibilities can have a big impact on anyone’s career, and this can particularly affect those working within the creative arts. The industry’s expectation of long hours, lots of evening and weekend work, frequent work away from home, irregular working patterns, and financial insecurity can be very challenging for anyone and particularly so for those with caring responsibilities.

PiPA – Parents & Carers in Performing Arts – was founded by actor Cassie Raine and director Anna Ehnold-Danailov in 2015 to advocate for parents and carers within the performing arts. PiPA’s website offers a range of important resources for parents and carers within the performing arts and those seeking to support them, including the PiPA Best Practice Charter.

Within the field of opera, SWAP’ra – Supporting Women and Parents in Opera – also does important work to support women and parents. Their website also offers valuable resources for women and parents working within opera, including both artists and administrators.

Menopause and perimenopause support

Menopause typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 but can happen earlier. Symptoms can last over a period of years, starting during perimenopause, and can continue afterwards. Menopause and perimenopause can cause a range of symptoms, which can have a big impact, and which people can feel embarrassed about. Symptoms can include hot flushes, mood swings, anxiety and depression, difficulties with memory and concentration (brain fog), difficulty sleeping, weight gain, heavy and/or irregular periods, headaches or migraines, and muscle and joints aches, among others. Those going through menopause and perimenopause can also lose confidence. Significant numbers drop out of work or are unable to develop their careers fully as a consequence.

Encouraging an open culture where people feel able to talk about what they are going through and any support which they might need in the workplace – such as access to a desk fan, available drinking water, and appropriate flexibility – can help to normalise menopause and perimenopause and help those going through it feel supported. The charity Menopause Matters offers helpful advice and links to lots of further resources about menopause at work on their website.

You can also read more about the menopause in the following free course: Talking about the menopause: symptoms, support and the role of exercise.

Practical steps

There are many steps that employers can take to support women (alongside all employees) fully at every stage of their life and career, including:

• fostering an open and inclusive culture where people feel able to speak about their circumstances and ask for additional requirements
• workplace policies and procedures
• staff networks
• mentoring and shadowing schemes
• staff development and continuing professional development.