Voxpop
What benefits would a truly diverse workforce bring to the sector?
Nat Edwards, assistant director, south, National Trust for Scotland
“Since I attended a conference in Boston 23 years ago that set out a vision for more diverse museums, historic houses and museums have systematised a raft of diversity programmes – yet 2014 research showed heritage visitors in the US to be richer and whiter than ever.
This purely suggests that programmatic approaches fail – we need to get deeper into fundamental decisions about resources and governance.
We need to open up our recruitment and procurement processes to allow a bit of the enterprise and creativity that make museums more attractive to a diverse workforce.”
Raj Pal, programme manager, Cultural Co-operation
“Cultural Co-operation’s Strengthening Our Common Life (SOCL) aims to diversify the UK heritage workforce so it is more reflective of the society in which we live. The year-long accredited programme aims to give talented and passionate young people from under-represented groups the opportunity to bring new ways of seeing to our heritage institutions.
SOCL aims to bring creativity and fresh talent to institutions to enable them to attract and engage more diverse audiences. We are inviting expressions of interest from prospective trainees and host partners for the next cohort that we are recruiting.”
Ruba Asfahani, communications manager, Modern Art Oxford
“The art world is arguably one of the most diverse areas to work in these days, and by representing a cosmopolitan subject, in a cosmopolitan country, we naturally attract a variety of workers as well as visitors. Nowadays, more art organisations are at the forefront of encouraging diversity in their programmes as well as their workforces, which is a major improvement in showcasing the importance of diversity in the arts, in general. The benefits this brings is mainly to the young people who are growing up in a world where the arts represent opportunities and personal expression.”
Hadrian Garrard, director, Create
“Actively supporting diversity in the arts is key to maintaining the UK’s status as a cultural leader. Research for our Panic project has confirmed the growing impression that the arts sector is a closed shop where most people are middle class. If young people don’t have family support structures then it is harder than ever for them to break into the creative industries. An increasing lack of representation from non- privileged young people puts the UK in danger of losing its creative edge. We must accept that losing diversity in the arts will represent a major risk to the potency of the industry.”
“Since I attended a conference in Boston 23 years ago that set out a vision for more diverse museums, historic houses and museums have systematised a raft of diversity programmes – yet 2014 research showed heritage visitors in the US to be richer and whiter than ever.
This purely suggests that programmatic approaches fail – we need to get deeper into fundamental decisions about resources and governance.
We need to open up our recruitment and procurement processes to allow a bit of the enterprise and creativity that make museums more attractive to a diverse workforce.”
Raj Pal, programme manager, Cultural Co-operation
“Cultural Co-operation’s Strengthening Our Common Life (SOCL) aims to diversify the UK heritage workforce so it is more reflective of the society in which we live. The year-long accredited programme aims to give talented and passionate young people from under-represented groups the opportunity to bring new ways of seeing to our heritage institutions.
SOCL aims to bring creativity and fresh talent to institutions to enable them to attract and engage more diverse audiences. We are inviting expressions of interest from prospective trainees and host partners for the next cohort that we are recruiting.”
Ruba Asfahani, communications manager, Modern Art Oxford
“The art world is arguably one of the most diverse areas to work in these days, and by representing a cosmopolitan subject, in a cosmopolitan country, we naturally attract a variety of workers as well as visitors. Nowadays, more art organisations are at the forefront of encouraging diversity in their programmes as well as their workforces, which is a major improvement in showcasing the importance of diversity in the arts, in general. The benefits this brings is mainly to the young people who are growing up in a world where the arts represent opportunities and personal expression.”
Hadrian Garrard, director, Create
“Actively supporting diversity in the arts is key to maintaining the UK’s status as a cultural leader. Research for our Panic project has confirmed the growing impression that the arts sector is a closed shop where most people are middle class. If young people don’t have family support structures then it is harder than ever for them to break into the creative industries. An increasing lack of representation from non- privileged young people puts the UK in danger of losing its creative edge. We must accept that losing diversity in the arts will represent a major risk to the potency of the industry.”