Discrimination within the museum sector is negatively affecting workforce diversity, leading to people leaving the field at mid-career level, according to the Museums Association.

According to new research from the Association, an “unconscious bias” is impacting recruitment-related decisions and individual salary, as well as investment into employee’s ongoing development once part of an organisation. According to the study – titled Valuing Diversity: The Case for Inclusive Museums – this unconscious bias is also influencing decisions around programming, interpretation and representation within museum spaces.

The study pulled together the perspectives of 80 people working in a variety of roles across the culture sector and was also informed by key publications on diversity in regards to culture, and from other fields including higher education.

“There is a wide literature on unconscious bias and it suggests it affects everyone, is automatic and is rooted in background, personal experience, cultural environment and social stereotypes,” said the report.

“Unconscious bias is a live issue and does play out across the sector. This can of course impact on recruitment but a clear finding here was the effect this has on day-to-day experience for those self-identifying as – or who are identified as – diverse.”

The report also highlighted conscious prejudice, but said these examples were “extreme and most likely rare” within the culture sector, but demonstrated “what can occur even when an organisation promotes diversity without also encouraging and supporting inclusion”.

The report suggests a number of actions to be taken within the culture sector, including inclusion training at all levels from governance and management to staff; better and more comprehensive data, and the promotion of a broader understanding of diversity in all its complexities by funders and policy-makers.

"This hard-hitting report outlines the lack of diversity in the sector at all levels,” said Sharon Heal, Museums Association director. “We need decisive, meaningful action now from funders and sector bodies if we are to make a real difference on these issues for future generations. The time for talking is over."

To read the full report, click here.