Among the exhilarated crowds jumping up and down on the Stonehenge-shaped bouncy castle that came to Yorkshire Sculpture Park near Wakefield in July as part of the London 2012 Festival was Damon Waldock, a former participant in the Museums Association’s (MA) Diversify scheme.
As the park’s events coordinator, Waldock was on hand to see that everything was running smoothly – a job which, that day, included testing out the installation to make sure its bounciness was up to standard.
“I drive into work every day with the biggest smile on my face,” Waldock says. If it wasn’t for the assistance provided by Diversify, which was established to broaden workforce diversity through positive-action bursaries and traineeships, his life could have been quite different.
Waldock applied to the scheme because family commitments and financial constraints had prevented him from taking the traditional route into the sector, which is usually a postgraduate degree backed up by extensive hours of voluntary experience.
“Without support from the MA and the host gallery I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he says. The Diversify programme began in 1998 and ended last year. One of the longest-running positive-action schemes in the UK, it was established in response to the shortfall of black, Asian and minority ethnic people working in museums and heritage.
“The proportion of people from these backgrounds in the general population was 7% [in 1998]”, says Diversify coordinator Lucy Shaw, who has worked on the scheme since it started. “In the sector it was just 2.5%, which was awful.”
The scheme was funded mainly through the now-abolished Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and gave bursaries to participants to complete master’s degrees and paid placements at a number of host organisations, including Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery and Luton Museum Service.
Ahead of the publication of Shaw’s evaluation report this month, the MA has been consulting with leading figures across the sector to assess the impact of the scheme and its legacy.
In terms of its original goals, Diversify has been a big success. “Our original target was to have 30 people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds pass through the programme by 2006,” says Shaw.
That figure was quickly surpassed. In the end, 110 people from ethnic minorities entered the sector through Diversify, and still more received management-level training through the Next Step Grant scheme.
Over the years, the definition of workforce diversity broadened and, in its final rounds, the scheme also trained around 20 people who had disabilities or came from low-income backgrounds.
About 90% of Diversify participants went on to gain work in museums and, when surveyed last year, three quarters were still employed in the sector.
The scheme has also helped transform the way host organisations recruit regular staff. Helen Pheby, who heads the curatorial team at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and managed its two Diversify participants, says: “This initiative really gave us an insight into the fact that there is a much bigger pool of talent available than you get just from [recruiting] university graduates or advertising.”
But despite these individual successes, the number of people from non-traditional backgrounds who entered the sector through Diversify is a drop in the ocean within the UK’s 40,000-strong museum workforce.
Ethnic minorities remain widely underrepresented across the sector, particularly in senior posts and collections-focused work.
“When we looked at the data in 2008, the proportion of ethnic minorities in the museum workforce had risen to 7%,” says Shaw. “But at the same time the proportion of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in the general population rose to 12%, so that’s still not very good.”
This lack of more general progress underlines a key drawback of specialist projects such as Diversify: while they have a dramatic impact on those taking part, their ability to have a transformative effect on the sector as a whole is limited.
Earlier this year, a roundtable meeting of leading figures from the sector, led by Sandy Nairne, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, came together to discuss what measures should be taken next to broaden the diversity of the workforce.
The consensus was that museum directors must take greater responsibility for championing diversity strategies throughout an organisation, and that the sector must, once and for all, address its recruitment practices, and the entry routes it offers to young people.
Though Diversify pioneered some excellent practice in this area, Clara Arokiasamy, director of the workforce development consultancy Kalai, told the roundtable that she believes the time for individually targeted schemes is over.
“To say that we need further ‘special projects’ to promote race equality in UK’s heritage workforce and services in 2012 is a serious admission of failure among the leadership,” she says.
Arokiasamy calls on the sector to “re-place tokenism with an organisational cultural shift” robust enough to facilitate the employment and retention of black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates to key positions and the integration of diverse cultural heritage into all aspects of the UK’s heritage organisations.
“It is so frustrating that we are still having this conversation and that the sector hasn’t moved on,” agrees Shaw. “There’s been a significant increase in audience numbers but museums don’t yet have the staff to represent those audiences. Why not?”
Amid the current climate of funding cuts and widespread redundancies – as well as the tripling of university fees in England, which has disproportionately affected students from disadvantaged backgrounds doing arts and humanities degrees, according to recent figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service – there are concerns that unless museums are proactive in dealing with the issue, the numbers of people from non-traditional backgrounds might even go backwards.
“There is a genuine fear that we don’t know the impact of these developments yet,” says Shaw. “Museums need to be a lot braver about how they recruit – they need to start asking different questions. It’s very lazy to just rely on people with postgraduate degrees and volunteer experience.”
There are pockets of good practice across the country. Some organisations, such as Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service, are looking to become “teaching museums” – along the same lines as a teaching hospital – that would give entry-level staff an on-the-job induction without the need for a qualification.
The museum sector’s hand may be forced by the expectations of funders. The national strategies of Wales and Scotland made workforce diversity a key goal, and it is also a central aim of Arts Council England’s 10-year strategic framework.
Increasingly, the language of those funding bodies is moving towards participation, access and community engagement – impacts that many museums would find easier to achieve with a more diverse workforce.
The benefits work both ways – ensuring minorities are equally represented in museums’ public facing work could go some way towards breaking down cultural barriers and attracting people who would not have otherwise considered a career in museums.
Shaw says that, as well as being an evaluation of the Diversify programme, she would like her final report to act as a “call to arms” for the sector to instigate a culture change across the board.
“It’s simple really – good leadership plus good practice equals diverse and inclusive organisations that value all people. Let’s stop talking about it and just get on with it.”
Geraldine Kendall is a freelance writer.
There will be a session on teaching museums at the Museums Association’s annual conference in Edinburgh, 8-9 November
Diversify alumnus, 2010-11
From a young age I knew I wanted to work in a museum. I clearly remember how I felt every time I visited my local gallery.
Coming from a less affluent background, it was both my mother’s influence and free entry to museums that developed my passion. However, as I grew up, my family circumstances made it increasingly difficult to focus on my ambitions and career goals.
I saw the scheme as a great opportunity for people from different backgrounds to be given the chance to be involved in something they were passionate about, which otherwise might not have been accessible.
When I applied for the scheme I didn’t think I had a chance of getting through to the interview stages. I didn’t think my circumstance made a strong case and thought others would be more deserving than me. It is great that the Museums Association didn’t see it that way and that they strongly believe in helping combat inequality in all its forms.
I still work at my host gallery, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and I love my job very much.
Diversify alumnus, 2003-05
After graduating from university with a BA in geography, I was lucky enough to see an advert for the Museums Association’s Diversify scheme.
Although I had previously considered a career in museums, the industry’s expectations of extensive volunteering experience, a master’s, combined with my very real need to earn money, had put me off.
Nearly 10 years later, I fully appreciate what an amazing opportunity this was. Having spent two years studying part-time for a master’s in museum studies and, just as importantly, working part-time, I have been able to forge a successful career.
The end result is I am currently assistant registrar at the Museum of London, sitting on the UK Registrars Group Committee and at present working on the loans for a major exhibition.
Without Diversify, I am certain I never would have entered the sector. Unfortunately though, it seems those barriers that originally put me off are ever more present.
For me, the main obstacle to workforce diversity remains the cost, whether it is the demand for qualifications, the need to volunteer or the low pay.
When it comes to ethnic minorities though, I feel there is still also a cultural barrier to entering the sector. We therefore need to continue the hard work to fully engage communities, as it is only when museums are relevant to all that the cultural issues related to workforce diversity will be overcome.
Diversify alumna, 2008-09
I had been volunteering [when] I found out about the opportunity for people from minority backgrounds to become part of the museum sector, and thought this would be an excellent opportunity.
This source of funding was to become much more than I expected. It was not just another funding body, but gave me support and new relationships with a huge variety of roles for the duration of my career.
Diversify helped me get my job as museum development officer for Worcestershire, where I support, advise, enable and train museum and heritage sites within the county as well as working on a wider remit in the region and country.
My main concern for the future of diversification within the sector is how the work of the Museums Association will be transferred to museums themselves to continue.
It is an ongoing process, and needs to be instilled into the hearts and minds of organisations so that it is more than a temporary placement in an organisation.
Diversify alumna, 2001-03
I was working as a visitor assistant at the Ikon Gallery [a contemporary art venue in the centre of Birmingham], when I saw an advert for the Diversify scheme. I applied and was completely overwhelmed when I was offered the position at Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery.
Those two years of my career were fundamental to my development as I was able to explore various career options available in the sector and get a real sense and practical feel for museum jobs. The Diversify scheme was well thought out, with hands-on experience combined with the MA in museum studies, which I also thoroughly enjoyed.
I feel that Diversify has been successful, even though the programme has faced some challenges and negativity within the museum sector.
The bottom line is the individuals involved – you work for museums because you are passionate about history, buildings, sharing stories, being part of a community and you have the desire to engage with people.
My current role as curator manager at Aston Hall is a dream post for me as it hits all the aspects mentioned above.
As the park’s events coordinator, Waldock was on hand to see that everything was running smoothly – a job which, that day, included testing out the installation to make sure its bounciness was up to standard.
“I drive into work every day with the biggest smile on my face,” Waldock says. If it wasn’t for the assistance provided by Diversify, which was established to broaden workforce diversity through positive-action bursaries and traineeships, his life could have been quite different.
Waldock applied to the scheme because family commitments and financial constraints had prevented him from taking the traditional route into the sector, which is usually a postgraduate degree backed up by extensive hours of voluntary experience.
“Without support from the MA and the host gallery I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he says. The Diversify programme began in 1998 and ended last year. One of the longest-running positive-action schemes in the UK, it was established in response to the shortfall of black, Asian and minority ethnic people working in museums and heritage.
“The proportion of people from these backgrounds in the general population was 7% [in 1998]”, says Diversify coordinator Lucy Shaw, who has worked on the scheme since it started. “In the sector it was just 2.5%, which was awful.”
The scheme was funded mainly through the now-abolished Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and gave bursaries to participants to complete master’s degrees and paid placements at a number of host organisations, including Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery and Luton Museum Service.
Ahead of the publication of Shaw’s evaluation report this month, the MA has been consulting with leading figures across the sector to assess the impact of the scheme and its legacy.
In terms of its original goals, Diversify has been a big success. “Our original target was to have 30 people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds pass through the programme by 2006,” says Shaw.
That figure was quickly surpassed. In the end, 110 people from ethnic minorities entered the sector through Diversify, and still more received management-level training through the Next Step Grant scheme.
Over the years, the definition of workforce diversity broadened and, in its final rounds, the scheme also trained around 20 people who had disabilities or came from low-income backgrounds.
About 90% of Diversify participants went on to gain work in museums and, when surveyed last year, three quarters were still employed in the sector.
The scheme has also helped transform the way host organisations recruit regular staff. Helen Pheby, who heads the curatorial team at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and managed its two Diversify participants, says: “This initiative really gave us an insight into the fact that there is a much bigger pool of talent available than you get just from [recruiting] university graduates or advertising.”
But despite these individual successes, the number of people from non-traditional backgrounds who entered the sector through Diversify is a drop in the ocean within the UK’s 40,000-strong museum workforce.
Ethnic minorities remain widely underrepresented across the sector, particularly in senior posts and collections-focused work.
“When we looked at the data in 2008, the proportion of ethnic minorities in the museum workforce had risen to 7%,” says Shaw. “But at the same time the proportion of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in the general population rose to 12%, so that’s still not very good.”
This lack of more general progress underlines a key drawback of specialist projects such as Diversify: while they have a dramatic impact on those taking part, their ability to have a transformative effect on the sector as a whole is limited.
Earlier this year, a roundtable meeting of leading figures from the sector, led by Sandy Nairne, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, came together to discuss what measures should be taken next to broaden the diversity of the workforce.
The consensus was that museum directors must take greater responsibility for championing diversity strategies throughout an organisation, and that the sector must, once and for all, address its recruitment practices, and the entry routes it offers to young people.
Though Diversify pioneered some excellent practice in this area, Clara Arokiasamy, director of the workforce development consultancy Kalai, told the roundtable that she believes the time for individually targeted schemes is over.
“To say that we need further ‘special projects’ to promote race equality in UK’s heritage workforce and services in 2012 is a serious admission of failure among the leadership,” she says.
Arokiasamy calls on the sector to “re-place tokenism with an organisational cultural shift” robust enough to facilitate the employment and retention of black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates to key positions and the integration of diverse cultural heritage into all aspects of the UK’s heritage organisations.
“It is so frustrating that we are still having this conversation and that the sector hasn’t moved on,” agrees Shaw. “There’s been a significant increase in audience numbers but museums don’t yet have the staff to represent those audiences. Why not?”
Amid the current climate of funding cuts and widespread redundancies – as well as the tripling of university fees in England, which has disproportionately affected students from disadvantaged backgrounds doing arts and humanities degrees, according to recent figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service – there are concerns that unless museums are proactive in dealing with the issue, the numbers of people from non-traditional backgrounds might even go backwards.
“There is a genuine fear that we don’t know the impact of these developments yet,” says Shaw. “Museums need to be a lot braver about how they recruit – they need to start asking different questions. It’s very lazy to just rely on people with postgraduate degrees and volunteer experience.”
There are pockets of good practice across the country. Some organisations, such as Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service, are looking to become “teaching museums” – along the same lines as a teaching hospital – that would give entry-level staff an on-the-job induction without the need for a qualification.
The museum sector’s hand may be forced by the expectations of funders. The national strategies of Wales and Scotland made workforce diversity a key goal, and it is also a central aim of Arts Council England’s 10-year strategic framework.
Increasingly, the language of those funding bodies is moving towards participation, access and community engagement – impacts that many museums would find easier to achieve with a more diverse workforce.
The benefits work both ways – ensuring minorities are equally represented in museums’ public facing work could go some way towards breaking down cultural barriers and attracting people who would not have otherwise considered a career in museums.
Shaw says that, as well as being an evaluation of the Diversify programme, she would like her final report to act as a “call to arms” for the sector to instigate a culture change across the board.
“It’s simple really – good leadership plus good practice equals diverse and inclusive organisations that value all people. Let’s stop talking about it and just get on with it.”
Geraldine Kendall is a freelance writer.
There will be a session on teaching museums at the Museums Association’s annual conference in Edinburgh, 8-9 November
Damon Waldock, programme, events and marketing coordinator, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
Diversify alumnus, 2010-11
From a young age I knew I wanted to work in a museum. I clearly remember how I felt every time I visited my local gallery.
Coming from a less affluent background, it was both my mother’s influence and free entry to museums that developed my passion. However, as I grew up, my family circumstances made it increasingly difficult to focus on my ambitions and career goals.
I saw the scheme as a great opportunity for people from different backgrounds to be given the chance to be involved in something they were passionate about, which otherwise might not have been accessible.
When I applied for the scheme I didn’t think I had a chance of getting through to the interview stages. I didn’t think my circumstance made a strong case and thought others would be more deserving than me. It is great that the Museums Association didn’t see it that way and that they strongly believe in helping combat inequality in all its forms.
I still work at my host gallery, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and I love my job very much.
David Chan, assistant registrar, Museum of London
Diversify alumnus, 2003-05
After graduating from university with a BA in geography, I was lucky enough to see an advert for the Museums Association’s Diversify scheme.
Although I had previously considered a career in museums, the industry’s expectations of extensive volunteering experience, a master’s, combined with my very real need to earn money, had put me off.
Nearly 10 years later, I fully appreciate what an amazing opportunity this was. Having spent two years studying part-time for a master’s in museum studies and, just as importantly, working part-time, I have been able to forge a successful career.
The end result is I am currently assistant registrar at the Museum of London, sitting on the UK Registrars Group Committee and at present working on the loans for a major exhibition.
Without Diversify, I am certain I never would have entered the sector. Unfortunately though, it seems those barriers that originally put me off are ever more present.
For me, the main obstacle to workforce diversity remains the cost, whether it is the demand for qualifications, the need to volunteer or the low pay.
When it comes to ethnic minorities though, I feel there is still also a cultural barrier to entering the sector. We therefore need to continue the hard work to fully engage communities, as it is only when museums are relevant to all that the cultural issues related to workforce diversity will be overcome.
Gemma Dhami, museum development officer, Worcestershire
Diversify alumna, 2008-09
I had been volunteering [when] I found out about the opportunity for people from minority backgrounds to become part of the museum sector, and thought this would be an excellent opportunity.
This source of funding was to become much more than I expected. It was not just another funding body, but gave me support and new relationships with a huge variety of roles for the duration of my career.
Diversify helped me get my job as museum development officer for Worcestershire, where I support, advise, enable and train museum and heritage sites within the county as well as working on a wider remit in the region and country.
My main concern for the future of diversification within the sector is how the work of the Museums Association will be transferred to museums themselves to continue.
It is an ongoing process, and needs to be instilled into the hearts and minds of organisations so that it is more than a temporary placement in an organisation.
Gurminder Kenth, curator manager, Aston Hall
Diversify alumna, 2001-03
I was working as a visitor assistant at the Ikon Gallery [a contemporary art venue in the centre of Birmingham], when I saw an advert for the Diversify scheme. I applied and was completely overwhelmed when I was offered the position at Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery.
Those two years of my career were fundamental to my development as I was able to explore various career options available in the sector and get a real sense and practical feel for museum jobs. The Diversify scheme was well thought out, with hands-on experience combined with the MA in museum studies, which I also thoroughly enjoyed.
I feel that Diversify has been successful, even though the programme has faced some challenges and negativity within the museum sector.
The bottom line is the individuals involved – you work for museums because you are passionate about history, buildings, sharing stories, being part of a community and you have the desire to engage with people.
My current role as curator manager at Aston Hall is a dream post for me as it hits all the aspects mentioned above.
