A series of high-profile resignations and appointments at some of the country’s biggest museums and galleries have reignited concerns over the lack of diversity in the cultural sector at all levels.
On the face of it, not much seems to have changed, with white men continuing to dominate the top jobs. In January, London’s National Portrait Gallery revealed that Nicholas Cullinan would become the 12th man to take charge.
And in March it was announced that Gabriele Finaldi from the Prado museum in Madrid had been appointed director of the National Gallery in London, which has been run by 14 men since the director’s post was established in 1855.
It is too soon to say whether new appointments at institutions such as the British Museum, which will lose Neil MacGregor in December, and Tate Modern, which will see Chris Dercon leave in 2017, will break the mould.
But a brief look at both museums’ history of employing male directors makes this seem unlikely. MacGregor, for example, is the British Museum’s 19th male director since 1756.
Although Jude Kelly, the artistic director at the Southbank Centre, does not want to take away from the talents of the men who have landed the top jobs, she does believe that the status quo has not been challenged for at least 20 years.
“It has been a long journey to recognition that we are still seeking, which is that women don’t have to be doubly auditioned, as [first] good enough for the job and then because they are a woman doing the job,” Kelly says.
“The feminist movement in the 70s reached a certain kind of peak and I think the 80s and 90s lost direction in terms of being clear about diversity, human rights and the need to keep challenging the status quo.”
Sector-wide problem
However, diversity is not just missing from the highest echelons of cultural institutions. It is well known that low starting salaries, the necessity for voluntary work and an increased expectation for high-level qualifications are hampering diversity at all levels.
Laura Crossley, a heritage consultant and PhD researcher, says the expectation that candidates for jobs will have a master’s degree is a threat to diversity. “If you get 800 applications forajobIcanseewhyitis easy to say, ‘Well, 500 of these don’t have a master’s so let’s make that the first benchmark’,” she says.
The problem, she adds, is that this sets a higher bar for what would normally be entry-level jobs, such as visitor services roles and curatorial assistants. This means jobseekers may need a master’s degree and a lot of volunteering under their
belt to get on the first step of the ladder.
“It may be that factors such as low pay, limited entry opportunities and a perception of institutions as ‘closed’ have an impact on people’s decisions to pursue a career in museums,” says Jess Turtle, the project coordinator at the Museums Association (MA).
“It may also be that there is the perception that postgraduate qualifications are required to get ahead in museums.” But she adds that schemes such as Museum Pathways, an 18-month paid training programme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and the Strengthening Our Common Life heritage skills training scheme have made a difference in the past 10 years.
Diversity schemes
Some museums are developing measures to ensure people from a wide range of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds are represented in entry-level and mid-management jobs. In March, the Royal Pavilion and Museums in Brighton completed a three- year project to give frontline staff the opportunity to work in different departments.
Funded with £15,000 from Arts Council England (ACE), the project had a number
of objectives, including developing skills, supporting career progression and bringing new perspectives to the museum’s work.
A total of 44 placements gave staff the opportunity to work in areas such as marketing, retail, collections and fundraising. “People coming in at entry level are now having opportunities to work alongside the exhibitions team and work with curators,” says Helen Graham, the learning, engagement and volunteer manager at the Royal Pavilion and Museums.
There are currently five visitor security officers using collections management
systems. “[Without the programme] they would have never have got this experience,” Graham says.
London Transport Museum uses blind recruitment methods for its apprenticeship programme, which started last year and is funded by ACE and the HLF.
The qualifications of apprentices who work on the museum’s live programmes team, which delivers learning programmes for schools, families, communities and young people, do not determine the recruitment process.
Instead, applicants are judged on their potential to do the role. “Our criteria is that they have to be passionate and enthusiastic individuals,” says Laura Service, the schools and young people’s programme manager at London Transport Museum.
“Ifyougetonabus,dothe people on the bus reflect who works in the museum? That’s one of the key things we think about.”
MA campaigns
Diversity is also a big priority for the MA. Its Museums Change Lives campaign encourages museums to strengthen their social impact by engaging in projects that promote social justice, human rights and champion fairness.
“Museums can foster discussion and debate, highlight areas of discrimination and offer a platform for representation that mirrors the needs of communities,” Turtle says.
Museums Change Lives has also informed the development of the MA’s Transformers programme. This aims to encourage mid- career professionals to look at ways to build resilience and create radical change, which could lead to the introduction of programmes that will boost diversity.
Information and insights that emerge from Transformers and other similar programmes across the sector will be used to develop a diversity roundtable in 2016. MA members will also be consulted on a new policy statement on diversity, which matches museums’ needs.
With many museums under huge financial pressure, increasing diversity may not be a top priority. But those that champion it point out that diversity is not just a “nice to have” – it can affect an organisation’s ability to be successful and attract new audiences.
“It will be much harder for museums to bring in diverse visitors if there’s no reflection in the diverse make-up of Britain within their workforces,” Crossley says.
Achieving diversity at the highest level of cultural institutions won’t “happen by accident”, warns Jude Kelly, the artistic director at the Southbank Centre.
She says organisations have to work hard to challenge the status quo and have not yet succeeded in “making it clear” that women and ethnic minorities offer a story about Britain that is just as important as their credentials to be a curator or an artistic director.
In April, the Southbank Centre earned a place in the Times newspaper’s list of top 50 employers for women in 2015. Kelly says women at the Southbank Centre are encouraged to develop skills and take up leadership positions.
Measures in place to achieve this include shadowing, apprenticeship programmes and appointing freelancers to take on important thought- leadership roles.
“It’s really about attending to the idea of confidence in the organisation and making sure women at all levels feel that there isn’t any door that is just slightly ajar and that all doors are wide open,” Kelly says.
“You include women in the conversations. You challenge women’s lack of confidence and insecurity and say, ‘Look there is every reason you can do this’.”
There will be a series of sessions on the diversity of workforces and audiences at the MA’s conference in Birmingham (5-6 November)
On the face of it, not much seems to have changed, with white men continuing to dominate the top jobs. In January, London’s National Portrait Gallery revealed that Nicholas Cullinan would become the 12th man to take charge.
And in March it was announced that Gabriele Finaldi from the Prado museum in Madrid had been appointed director of the National Gallery in London, which has been run by 14 men since the director’s post was established in 1855.
It is too soon to say whether new appointments at institutions such as the British Museum, which will lose Neil MacGregor in December, and Tate Modern, which will see Chris Dercon leave in 2017, will break the mould.
But a brief look at both museums’ history of employing male directors makes this seem unlikely. MacGregor, for example, is the British Museum’s 19th male director since 1756.
Although Jude Kelly, the artistic director at the Southbank Centre, does not want to take away from the talents of the men who have landed the top jobs, she does believe that the status quo has not been challenged for at least 20 years.
“It has been a long journey to recognition that we are still seeking, which is that women don’t have to be doubly auditioned, as [first] good enough for the job and then because they are a woman doing the job,” Kelly says.
“The feminist movement in the 70s reached a certain kind of peak and I think the 80s and 90s lost direction in terms of being clear about diversity, human rights and the need to keep challenging the status quo.”
Sector-wide problem
However, diversity is not just missing from the highest echelons of cultural institutions. It is well known that low starting salaries, the necessity for voluntary work and an increased expectation for high-level qualifications are hampering diversity at all levels.
Laura Crossley, a heritage consultant and PhD researcher, says the expectation that candidates for jobs will have a master’s degree is a threat to diversity. “If you get 800 applications forajobIcanseewhyitis easy to say, ‘Well, 500 of these don’t have a master’s so let’s make that the first benchmark’,” she says.
The problem, she adds, is that this sets a higher bar for what would normally be entry-level jobs, such as visitor services roles and curatorial assistants. This means jobseekers may need a master’s degree and a lot of volunteering under their
belt to get on the first step of the ladder.
“It may be that factors such as low pay, limited entry opportunities and a perception of institutions as ‘closed’ have an impact on people’s decisions to pursue a career in museums,” says Jess Turtle, the project coordinator at the Museums Association (MA).
“It may also be that there is the perception that postgraduate qualifications are required to get ahead in museums.” But she adds that schemes such as Museum Pathways, an 18-month paid training programme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and the Strengthening Our Common Life heritage skills training scheme have made a difference in the past 10 years.
Diversity schemes
Some museums are developing measures to ensure people from a wide range of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds are represented in entry-level and mid-management jobs. In March, the Royal Pavilion and Museums in Brighton completed a three- year project to give frontline staff the opportunity to work in different departments.
Funded with £15,000 from Arts Council England (ACE), the project had a number
of objectives, including developing skills, supporting career progression and bringing new perspectives to the museum’s work.
A total of 44 placements gave staff the opportunity to work in areas such as marketing, retail, collections and fundraising. “People coming in at entry level are now having opportunities to work alongside the exhibitions team and work with curators,” says Helen Graham, the learning, engagement and volunteer manager at the Royal Pavilion and Museums.
There are currently five visitor security officers using collections management
systems. “[Without the programme] they would have never have got this experience,” Graham says.
London Transport Museum uses blind recruitment methods for its apprenticeship programme, which started last year and is funded by ACE and the HLF.
The qualifications of apprentices who work on the museum’s live programmes team, which delivers learning programmes for schools, families, communities and young people, do not determine the recruitment process.
Instead, applicants are judged on their potential to do the role. “Our criteria is that they have to be passionate and enthusiastic individuals,” says Laura Service, the schools and young people’s programme manager at London Transport Museum.
“Ifyougetonabus,dothe people on the bus reflect who works in the museum? That’s one of the key things we think about.”
MA campaigns
Diversity is also a big priority for the MA. Its Museums Change Lives campaign encourages museums to strengthen their social impact by engaging in projects that promote social justice, human rights and champion fairness.
“Museums can foster discussion and debate, highlight areas of discrimination and offer a platform for representation that mirrors the needs of communities,” Turtle says.
Museums Change Lives has also informed the development of the MA’s Transformers programme. This aims to encourage mid- career professionals to look at ways to build resilience and create radical change, which could lead to the introduction of programmes that will boost diversity.
Information and insights that emerge from Transformers and other similar programmes across the sector will be used to develop a diversity roundtable in 2016. MA members will also be consulted on a new policy statement on diversity, which matches museums’ needs.
With many museums under huge financial pressure, increasing diversity may not be a top priority. But those that champion it point out that diversity is not just a “nice to have” – it can affect an organisation’s ability to be successful and attract new audiences.
“It will be much harder for museums to bring in diverse visitors if there’s no reflection in the diverse make-up of Britain within their workforces,” Crossley says.
‘It’s about making sure all doors are wide open to women’
Achieving diversity at the highest level of cultural institutions won’t “happen by accident”, warns Jude Kelly, the artistic director at the Southbank Centre.
She says organisations have to work hard to challenge the status quo and have not yet succeeded in “making it clear” that women and ethnic minorities offer a story about Britain that is just as important as their credentials to be a curator or an artistic director.
In April, the Southbank Centre earned a place in the Times newspaper’s list of top 50 employers for women in 2015. Kelly says women at the Southbank Centre are encouraged to develop skills and take up leadership positions.
Measures in place to achieve this include shadowing, apprenticeship programmes and appointing freelancers to take on important thought- leadership roles.
“It’s really about attending to the idea of confidence in the organisation and making sure women at all levels feel that there isn’t any door that is just slightly ajar and that all doors are wide open,” Kelly says.
“You include women in the conversations. You challenge women’s lack of confidence and insecurity and say, ‘Look there is every reason you can do this’.”
There will be a series of sessions on the diversity of workforces and audiences at the MA’s conference in Birmingham (5-6 November)
