educonference21

Inclusivity in Immersive Audio: Current Participation and Barriers to Entry
Media and entertainment companies have embraced immersive audio technology for cinema, television, games and music.  Meanwhile, in recent years there has been a rise in the number of organizations welcoming underrepresented groups to the field of audio.  Although some disciplines such as music recording are seeing an increase in participation, others are not keeping pace.  Immersive and spatial audio are disciplines in which diversity is measurably lacking.  Mixed-gender social media groups focused on audio are composed of less than 10 percent women and minorities, and groups dedicated to immersive audio exhibit poorer representation. Barriers to entry are societal as well as economic; however, outreach, networking opportunities, mentoring and affordable education are remedies have been shown to be effective for related industries.