Sexism in the sector needs to be challenged
How do we get to a position where we are not surprised that a woman is in the most senior role?
There is no sentence that better sums up my experience of sexism in museums than a comment casually directed at me during a meeting with a board of museum trustees: “Women on boards are as useful as chocolate teapots.” It’s done in full view, without aggression, and usually by an older generation of men, unconscious of their prejudice.
You may think this article has been prompted by the spotlight on sexism sparked by the Harvey Weinstein allegations. The timing is a coincidence, but the sense of inequality in the workplace is not. I’ve been wanting to write on this topic following a conversation I had with colleagues a few months ago, sharing the above experience. Genuine surprise from my male peers followed. They were unaware that this level of overt sexism still existed in the museum workplace. This led to a sharing of experiences from the females about the everyday sexism they felt in their professional lives, a face-to-face version of the #MeToo social media outpouring that we have seen recently.
Within the group, experiences ranged from unwanted touching, being underheard and undervalued at meetings, to a general presumption from the profession and the public that if they were in a senior role, they were most likely to be a man. The evidence I have gathered has thrown up recurring examples. Females were regularly expected to take notes during meetings, while men were asked to chair. Others felt that ideas and solutions they put forward were often credited to male colleagues. Several women also commented on their perceived lack of agency within their organisation, while simultaneously men appeared to be favoured for leadership positions. These trends are dangerous, and for the sector to thrive, we need to be able to openly challenge them, without fear.
Going back to my chocolate teapot experience; my role in the meeting was to aid a variety of museum boards with their long-term sustainability. More specifically, it was to make sure that succession planning was robust and that each museum had the necessary skills to take its organisations forward. The remark, which happened in a meeting with male and female trustees, went unchallenged. At the time, my professional rebuttal was that perhaps they found female members of their board ineffectual because their recruitment was restricted to subject enthusiasts and was not transparent nor accountable. As you might imagine, this practice did not lead to a diverse set of trustees armed with the right skills and experiences to create a resilient and effective organisation.
As an individual, I now feel valued and respected in the workplace. Most people believe that the museum profession is a friendly and wonderful place to work. Yet I can think of many instances throughout my career, especially when new to the sector, where I have felt uncomfortable – physically and psychologically – due to behaviour motivated by sexism. It’s important that our love of working in museums does not foster a culture where sexism can go unnoticed.
My motive for writing this article was to raise awareness on this issue and to prompt debate.
Do we all agree that sexism exists in the museum sector? Does everyone always get an equal hearing? How do we get to a position where we are not surprised that a woman is in the most senior role? These are questions I’d encourage all museum professionals to reflect on and discuss frankly and openly. The more we challenge and evolve as a workforce, the more we equip ourselves to represent current audiences and working practices. As, quite frankly, a workforce where sexism exists is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
You may think this article has been prompted by the spotlight on sexism sparked by the Harvey Weinstein allegations. The timing is a coincidence, but the sense of inequality in the workplace is not. I’ve been wanting to write on this topic following a conversation I had with colleagues a few months ago, sharing the above experience. Genuine surprise from my male peers followed. They were unaware that this level of overt sexism still existed in the museum workplace. This led to a sharing of experiences from the females about the everyday sexism they felt in their professional lives, a face-to-face version of the #MeToo social media outpouring that we have seen recently.
Within the group, experiences ranged from unwanted touching, being underheard and undervalued at meetings, to a general presumption from the profession and the public that if they were in a senior role, they were most likely to be a man. The evidence I have gathered has thrown up recurring examples. Females were regularly expected to take notes during meetings, while men were asked to chair. Others felt that ideas and solutions they put forward were often credited to male colleagues. Several women also commented on their perceived lack of agency within their organisation, while simultaneously men appeared to be favoured for leadership positions. These trends are dangerous, and for the sector to thrive, we need to be able to openly challenge them, without fear.
Going back to my chocolate teapot experience; my role in the meeting was to aid a variety of museum boards with their long-term sustainability. More specifically, it was to make sure that succession planning was robust and that each museum had the necessary skills to take its organisations forward. The remark, which happened in a meeting with male and female trustees, went unchallenged. At the time, my professional rebuttal was that perhaps they found female members of their board ineffectual because their recruitment was restricted to subject enthusiasts and was not transparent nor accountable. As you might imagine, this practice did not lead to a diverse set of trustees armed with the right skills and experiences to create a resilient and effective organisation.
As an individual, I now feel valued and respected in the workplace. Most people believe that the museum profession is a friendly and wonderful place to work. Yet I can think of many instances throughout my career, especially when new to the sector, where I have felt uncomfortable – physically and psychologically – due to behaviour motivated by sexism. It’s important that our love of working in museums does not foster a culture where sexism can go unnoticed.
My motive for writing this article was to raise awareness on this issue and to prompt debate.
Do we all agree that sexism exists in the museum sector? Does everyone always get an equal hearing? How do we get to a position where we are not surprised that a woman is in the most senior role? These are questions I’d encourage all museum professionals to reflect on and discuss frankly and openly. The more we challenge and evolve as a workforce, the more we equip ourselves to represent current audiences and working practices. As, quite frankly, a workforce where sexism exists is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.