A first-time survey of the ethnic, racial, and gender makeup of Christian publishing shows the industry is overwhelmingly white and chiefly led by men in higher-level roles, according to an announcement from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

Key findings, released at the request of PW, showed that among respondents, the workforce in Christian publishing is 85% white—in line with findings of a 2022 Publishers Weekly salary survey of the general publishing industry, which found an 83% white workforce. The ECPA survey also found that 94% of the executive/senior-level managers were white.

Committee chair Tina Constable, executive v-p and publisher for Penguin Random House's Convergent, Forum Books, Image, Ink & Willow, Multnomah, WaterBrook imprints, told PW, "We know that this work is ongoing, and though the destination can be elusive and not everyone will be satisfied with the results, we are committed for the long haul, because it's mission-driven."

Men comprised a much larger share of religion publishing workforce than they do in general publishing; 56% of the religion workforce were men and 44% of employees from participating publishers were women compared to women accounting for 77% of employees in general publishing. The ECPA survey also found men were more likely to have higher positions than women. For males: 20% are mid-level managers; 11% are executive/senior managers; and 8% have administrative support roles. For females: 30% are in administrative support roles; 15% are mid-level managers; and 4% are executive/senior managers.

However, the findings of the survey, conducted in 2022, are more of an indication than a definitive description of where the industry stands. Only 26% of 70 ECPA members elected to participate in the baseline study so the margin of error for the results, adjusted by the size of participating companies, is plus or minus 20%.

"Regardless, the committee believes that this is a good start for the industry to consider how their companies compare to this initial baseline data. This is the first time this data has been gathered for the Christian publishing industry, and represents a significant start for the industry—in its willingness to be transparent and accountable," according to the release issued during the ECPA's annual Leadership Summit in Nashville.

The committee release also stressed the ECPA's ongoing commitments to educate and support members in DEI efforts including speaker programs, resources for DEI work, and mentorship efforts, including a "new Open Doors intern program with an emphasis on reaching new channels of BIPOC professionals and students interested in Christian publishing."

Although some major publishers such as Hachette Book Group and Penguin Random House, which both own religion publishing imprints, have released overall corporate data on the racial makeup of their workforces, there is little information available for independent faith-based publishers. A PW sampling of six religion and spirituality publishers found that while all were committed to DEI, they found their efforts slowed by economic upheavals that prompted layoffs, hiring freezes, and other cost controls.

The ECPA said it plans to conduct a follow-up survey in two years.