A Call for Gender Equity in the Museum Workplace
Forty-three years ago a group of women gathered at the American Association of Museums annual meeting, now the Alliance, (AAM). Calling themselves the Women’s Caucus, they asked for numerous reforms to end gender-based discriminatory hiring and promotion practices in the museum profession.
At the time, women held fewer than 16-percent of museum directorships, a number that declined before it increased. The Caucus also called for a legal guide to help women challenge discrimination, for support for open salary information, and guidelines for fair employment practices.
That was then. Today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), women make up 46.7-percent of the museum field, working in every job title and every museum discipline. While the field’s demographics have changed, the original Caucus wish list remains unchallenged and unchanged. The field is rife with questions of pay equity while many museums fail to offer adequate health insurance, paid family and medical leave, access to affordable childcare, and protection from sexual harassment.
Read the full manifesto here: gemmplatform
Want to join the conversation? Email us at gemmuseums@gmail.com
For GEMM
Joan H. Baldwin, Editor
Anne W. Ackerson
Marieke Van Damme
Matthew A. Dickey
Jessica Ferey
Shruthi Mukund
November 2016