A Few More Thoughts: How the Pay Gap Fights DEI

Mike Alewitz - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80735564

Well, there's nothing like an article on museum pay to get people's hackles up. Last week, in listing the workplace issues the museum world contends with, I mentioned the gender pay gap, writing, "Sometimes I feel as though the pay gap takes short shrift in comparison to DEI issues, but the gender pay gap is the definition of the absence of DEI. It affects all women from transgender women to Black, Indigenous, and Latinx women. The cascading hourly pay they receive is testament to one of the last big labor problems yet to be tackled. Among other things, the gender pay gap is metaphor for how those in authority view those without power."

One of that post's comments came from Michael Holland. In addition to being a natural history exhibit person with a passion for all things dinosaur, Holland has been a longtime voice for equitable wages. Google him, and you'll find this piece he wrote for AAM three years ago. He concluded his comment on my post with this: "If we want underrepresented people to join us, we need to make sure that they too can afford to stay. At minimum, we should stop financially pushing against the very diversity, equity, and inclusion that DEI initiatives aim to address." Too true. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there's no point in museum workplace DEI initiatives if at their heart the institution supports and enables a system that perpetuates racism.

As I wrote in my original post, the gender pay gap has long been aligned with white women's feminism, and is often seen as a white woman's issue, but the data doesn't bear this out. And like everything else about race/gender issues, both a White and a Black women can suffer from the gender pay gap, but the Black woman's suffering is different and greater. In fact, in practical terms, it's 17 cents on the dollar greater than a White woman, and for Indigenous women, it is greater still, not to mention Latinx women's who make 25 cents less than the white man's dollar. So the diversity of a museum's staff is not the whole story. It is window dressing if the organization hasn't done a pay equity audit to make sure its salaries are equitable; otherwise, it only perpetuates a broken and racist system.

Recently I had a conversation with a member of the leadership at my own institution. My employer sees itself as fairly enlightened. Its hiring practices have all been revamped in the last five years, but pay remains shrouded in mystery. When I raised the issue of a gender pay gap, I was told that our pay was carefully calculated against similar positions in similar institutions. When I suggested that other institutions, and in fact entire fields have gender wage suppression so comparisons are moot, the conversation kind of ended. But that's the issue. It's why certain groups like Museum Hue and GEMM fight for transparency about salaries in job advertisements and why women in particular shouldn't be asked for their salary at a previous job.

So...bottom line? Maybe if we can see the gender wage gap, not as already privileged white women's whining, but in fact the superstructure for wage inequity, we can make change. If--and I realize it's a big if--

1. AAM and AASLH can talk about the gender wage gap and how it perpetuates racism.

2. If they can offer solutions and examples of how to do a pay equity audit.....

3. ....while also continuing to support and encourage organizations dealing with bias surrounding the hiring and onboarding process...

4. If they would be willing to support the kind of information available for librarians, women entering the museum field might have a better chance of lobbying for more equitable pay. Indeed, just acknowledging in every bit of information surrounding HR issues that the gender pay gap is a thing, would go a long way toward women of all races not feeling gaslit by the system.

5. How can we--as individuals and organizations-- build on the growing labor consciousness in the museum workforce in ways that are helpful and regenerative? How can we build on labor's use of Instagram as a venue to air out grievances and hurt?

As Michael Holland points out in his comment from last week, the road to successful museum employment is littered with a landmines. There is education--Do you have the right degrees?--Cost--If you get the degree, can you cope with the potential debt?--And daily life. Can you afford to live near and commute to your museum? All those questions have to be answered before starting a job. Staying in a position, and indeed in the field, depends on finding a humane workplace and equitable pay. And equitable pay ONLY works if the gender pay gap is addressed otherwise no matter what your museum says about how important workplace DEI issues are, it's all a lie. Remember Nina Simon's great Tweet: When you prioritize the safety and welcome of people who have lower access to power, you are working for equity and inclusion. When you prioritize the comfort and preferences of people with higher access to power, you are working against it. That doesn't only apply to museum issues that are front facing, but most importantly to those that take place "backstage" and involve only a museum or heritage organization's workforce.

Be kind, be truthfull, and be well.

Joan Baldwin

P.S. I also want to acknowledge Paul Thistle's work and concern for the museum world's wellness. (See the other comments and reposts from last week.) One of the many contributors to workplace stress is an inadequate paycheck. A stressed staff is an unhappy staff, and an unhappy staff is bad for community and collaboration.