Introduction
Museums have an opportunity to better support the wellbeing of their people.
The Museums Association (MA) is a long-standing advocate for everyone who works in and with museums. The MA is committed to supporting museums in creating environments where all professionals, including freelancers and volunteers, can thrive.
In 2022, the MA conducted sector-wide research to identify the current state of individual wellbeing within the workforce, and to identify factors affecting wellbeing at individual, organisational and sector levels. The research pinpointed actions to drive positive change for everyone who works in and with museums; revealed a critical need for ongoing, nuanced discussions about wellbeing; and informed the launch of a wellbeing campaign in 2023.
The campaign aims to:
- Work with museums to raise awareness and showcase good practice so that they can put in place programmes and support for their workforce and for the communities they serve.
- Work with museums to improve workforce wellbeing through advice, support and programmes.
- Work with museums to actively support community wellbeing.
The campaign includes speaking at events about workforce wellbeing, expanding the Wellbeing Hub with resources on key topics, and running six workshops between January and March 2024 facilitated by Jessica Agudelo, a wellbeing and inclusion expert. The workshops reached more than 80 leaders and managers across the UK to develop the skills and confidence to support their teams.
This campaign emphasises the importance of a psychologically safe workforce, especially for those roles working with communities that have been marginalised, underrepresented or have experienced trauma.
However, within the research, museum professionals of colour were underrepresented. To address this, two discovery discussion sessions were held in June and July 2024 to provide a platform for museum professionals of colour to deeply explore and reflect on their individual and collective experiences.
The goal was to gain a greater understanding of specific issues and contexts, to assess what these mean for the sector, and to identify how the MA can effectively support the individuals concerned.
This report outlines the insights gained from the discovery discussions and offers recommendations to enhance the MA’s ongoing commitment to create inclusive and diverse museums that prioritise fair working conditions and the wellbeing of the whole workforce.