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Agree. Portfolio schools are a huge advantage, so sponsoring ad school scholarships are an easy thing agencies can do if they really want diversity.
Portfolio schools and hiring are a big part of the problem. There's also something to be said for how we approach the work though. As a business we thrive on risky ideas so people should be given the safety net to pursue risky.
But often it's the people who come from wealthier backgrounds who can afford to take huge risks - to present shit that's wacky or take the time to think of interesting things.
If I don't have a safety net in terms of generational wealth of family background, and my job is my only income and I'm worrying about the future... I'm probably not going to be too pushy or risky in my job.
We need to get back to encouraging risk taking and risky ideas in the way that we work, embracing that as part of the process. Unfortunately I think a lot of agencies nowdays are happier with people who do what's expected, rather than those who bring novel solutions to the table.
They aren’t.
And fixing diversity isn’t going to come from portfolio schools. It’s going to take meaningful recruiting from agencies
Portfolio schools only create a barrier to entry because creative directors let them
AD 1- Don’t assume portfolio schools are the answer. I remember when I graduated portfolio school(about tenish years ago) it was my POC classmates who got hired last. Hired months after graduating or didn’t get hired at all. It’s was not the portfolio school’s fault but the homogenous agency recruiters that would ignore them.
They are not. I tried really hard once getting a scholarship for a friend I grew up with that didn’t have the same opportunities I had. The MAS director at the time said he couldn’t do it because it could decrease the quality of the students that he wanted to be the best possible.
It didn’t matter that this friend had more talent than any other white and privileged student that was paying to be there. I got out of MAS as soon as I got a decent jr job, I didn’t want to give them any more money.
Chief
miami ad school is a sham, they will accept and graduate anyone that can pay.
VCU and Circus seem to have a decent # of diverse students.
The bigger problem is the pipeline. Need more BIPOC interested in the industry, more support professionally and financially, more opportunities for students who can't take an unpaid internship or spend 6 months in a different city, and then for agencies to look at and hire more of these candidates.
Would be really cool to see an agency like Majority sponsor students from Morehouse or other HBCUs who are interested in advertising. They could take classes at Circus or MAD in Atlanta and get those opportunities.
This is the 100% correct take that nobody is talking about....and it's largely why the agency diversity pie charts that get posted to LinkedIn are not going to look much different in five years than they are today.
TBH my portfolio school (my quarter at least) was more diverse than most creative departments I’ve seen. A lot of people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and countries.
👆this
Pro
Depends more on what country/state/city the portfolio school in.
here are some programs tackling this problem as we speak.
https://www.oneschoolny.org
https://stepintotheworkshop.com/
Agencies should invest in these 2 programs.