The Class Ceiling: What Working-Class Exclusion from the Arts Means for Archaeology
- 08 May 2026, 13:00-14:00 BST
- Online
This event has now ended, but you can still register to receive a link to the recording.
Images: The Class Ceiling report
About the event
DV Trends: The Class Ceiling – What Working-Class Exclusion from the Arts Means for Archaeology
Nazir Afzal OBE and Matt Baker join DigVentures for a special Trends session unpacking the findings of Class Ceiling: A Review of Working Class Participation in the Arts, the pioneering Greater Manchester inquiry that sparked national conversation about who gets to build a creative career, and who gets shut out.
Their findings are stark: over half of working-class creatives surveyed had experienced bias or discrimination based on their background, fewer than half earn enough to make a living from their work, and the infrastructure that once supported working-class talent into the sector has largely disappeared. The report’s 21 recommendations – from treating class as a protected characteristic, to ending unpaid work and expanding apprenticeships – go beyond diagnosis to offer a concrete blueprint for change.
For archaeology and heritage, the parallels are impossible to ignore. Our sector shares many of the same structural barriers: dependence on university pathways, a culture of low pay and voluntary labour as rites of passage, leadership concentrated in narrow socioeconomic groups, and a widening gap between diversity ambitions and the material conditions that determine who can actually enter, stay and progress.
In this event, Nazir and Matt will unpack what the Class Ceiling research reveals, and help us consider what a blueprint for working-class representation, and greater diversity in general, would actually look like for archaeology as a sector.
Our speakers:
- Nazir Afzal OBE, Chancellor of the University of Manchester, Chair of the Lowry and co-chair of the inquiry
- Matt Baker, founder of RISE, Chair of the inquiry, and leader of the social research that underpins it
- Lisa Westcott Wilkins, Founder and Co-CEO, DigVentures
This event also includes a live Q&A, so you’ll have the opportunity to put your burning questions directly to our panellists.
Images: The ‘Class Ceiling’ report
About our guest panellists
Nazir Afzal OBE is a leading legal expert and social justice advocate with over 30 years’ experience in the criminal justice system. As former Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England, he led prosecutions in some of the UK’s most high-profile cases, helping to reshape the national approach to child protection. Nazir has driven change on issues including child sexual abuse, violence against women and girls, and honour-based violence, overseeing more than 100,000 prosecutions annually. He currently serves as Chancellor of the University of Manchester and Chair of The Lowry.
Matt Baker is the founder of RISE, and an award-winning consultant with over 20 years’ experience leading inclusion, workplace culture and research projects. He recently led the UK’s first major study into place and access in the arts, praised as "a pioneering inquiry". A former government minister adviser and senior fellow at the Institute of Place Management, Matt works across the public and private sectors to deliver social change. His campaign for the Cabinet Office’s Behavioural Insights Team during the pandemic won two CIPR Pride Awards for best COVID-19 response and healthcare campaign.
