Evaluation of gender representation of museum collection positions in the United States.

Gender representation in the workplace is affected by different factors, such as the roles and responsibilities, qualifications, and salary of the profession. The museum community has experienced many changes over the years regarding these factors. To determine the effect of these changes on the museum field, data pertaining to museum collection positions were obtained by examining 9,475 museum listings from the 2006 edition of the American Association of Museums directory. Collection positions were divided into leadership (curator) and support (collections manager, registrar, archivist, and conservator) positions, and analyzed in terms of museum size, type, and region. From this research of gender representation, it is determined that females significantly outnumber males in most collection positions, thus providing quantitative evidence of a “feminization” of the profession. Recommendations are given to aid the future of the museum community regarding this trend.