Appendix A: Glossary of Terms

Race/Ethnicity

Throughout the report, we use aggregated categories guided by participants’ self-identification with racial and ethnic groups. These categories include Asian or Asian American (including East Asian—Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Taiwanese, and Tibetan; South Asian—Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan; and Southeast Asian—Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Thai, and Vietnamese); Black or African American; Hispanic or Latine/x (Hispanic, Latina, Latino, or Latinx); MENA (West Asian, Middle Eastern, or North African); Native American/Alaska Native/First Nations; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander; white; or Other (defined as another race or ethnicity). 

We acknowledge that selecting umbrella terms to describe complex and diverse racial/ethnic groups is not apolitical and that members within these groups may have different ways of describing their identities. We chose to use the shorthand “Hispanic or Latine/x” to describe anyone who selected “Hispanic, Latina, Latino, or Latinx” to reflect the ongoing discussion and evolution of gender-neutral terminology within that community.⁷⁷ We also chose to capitalize all racial/ethnic group names, with the exception of white, following the guidance of our Editorial Council, the Associated Press, and others.⁷⁸

Participants had the option to select “prefer not to answer” and to choose as many racial or ethnic groups that apply to them. Those who selected multiple racial/ethnic groups were identified as multiracial and included in the racial or ethnic groups they selected (e.g., a participant who selected Asian and Black would be reflected within both of these groups as well as multiracial). At points in the study, we also refer to “BIPOC,” or people of color, where trends in the data exhibited similar experiences across workers of color, which includes any participant who self-identifies as Asian or Asian American; Black or African American; Hispanic or Latine/x; West Asian, Middle Eastern or North African; Native American/Alaska Native/First Nations; Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; or multiracial.

Gender

Similar to race/ethnicity, study participants were able to identify their gender. In the report, gender choices include woman, man, and nonbinary (including gender queer, third gender, and another gender). Nonbinary is an umbrella term⁷⁹ used to encompass the identities of participants who fall outside of the man/woman gender binary and those who experience gender fluidity or do not identify with a particular gender identity. Participants had the option to select “prefer not to answer” or to select as many identities that apply.

Generation

In the report, we aggregated generation cohorts based on participants’ birth years. Where significant trends emerged from the data, we referred to generation-specific categories including Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964), Gen X (1965–1980), Millennials (1981–1996), and Gen Z (1997–2012). “Gen” is sometimes used here as shorthand for “generation.” Given that the study focused on working-aged participants, we do not have data for the youngest generation (Gen Alpha, born 2013–2023), nor do we have data for the oldest generation (Silent Generation, 1928–1945).

Position Level

Participants were asked to identify their current position level in their museum. In the report, we often compare the experiences of workers based on position level, sometimes referred to as “seniority,” within their museum. Position levels include Volunteer, Entry level, Associate (experienced nonmanager roles), Manager (with one or more direct reports), Director, and Executive (including museum leadership). Participants could only select one position level but also had the option to select “prefer not to answer.” We acknowledge that the way a worker chooses to describe their position level may differ from the way that their museums categorize them. For the purpose of this study, we used the workers’ self-descriptions.

Department Area

In key places in the report, we include trends by museum department area. Participants were able to identify the department category of their current positions. Department areas include the following types of roles with classifications aligned with the Mellon Foundation’s Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey taxonomy: 

Administration (membership/development, museum leadership, DEAI [diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion], finance, HR, IT [information technology], support/administration, research/evaluation)

Building Operations (gardens/grounds, facilities, food services, security, retail and store, exhibitions design and preparation, janitorial)

Collections/Exhibitions (collections information and management, conservation, curatorial, registration, library)

Communications (publications/editorial, rights/reproductions, marketing/public relations, digital strategy)

Public Engagement (education, public engagement, visitor services) 

None of the above

Based on feedback from the cognitive interviews we conducted with museum staff, we added three additional types of roles to the MMF survey from what was included in the Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey: research and evaluation, janitorial services, and collections information and management.

Unions

Participants were asked to identify their union membership status at their museum workplace. Status types include union member, not yet a union member (the museum has a union but is still negotiating its first contract), and not a union member (the participant is eligible for membership in a union but has not chosen to join, the participant’s position is ineligible for the union or unions at their museum, or there are no unions at the participant’s museum). Union members and those who are not yet members were asked to identify how long their museum union had been certified (length of time since the union won its election or was voluntarily recognized). These periods include less than 1 year, 1–2 years, 3–5 years, 6–10 years, 11+ years, and unknown or unsure. We do not report on the specific experiences of those who identified as “not yet a union member,” due to the low number of respondents in that category. 

For more information on what constitutes eligibility or ineligibility for union membership, please consult the US Department of Labor.⁸⁰

Discrimination and Harassment

For the purposes of this study, we provided participants with a list of identity-based categories—including gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, social or economic status, religion, age, disability status, or another form—of discrimination or harassment. We defined discrimination in the survey as “unfair treatment and harassment as unwelcome conduct—including name-calling, intimidation, offensive jokes, threats, physical assault—based on identity.” Given the sensitive nature of discrimination and other harmful workplace experiences, participants were also able to select “prefer not to answer.” We also asked about the frequency of discrimination and harassment, which we broke down into rarely (one or two times in their entire tenure at their current museum), sometimes (a few times a year), often (a few times a month), and very frequently (daily or almost daily). In the chapter on discrimination and harassment, we use the umbrella term “discrimination” to encompass experiences of both discrimination and harassment among art museum workers.

Museum Type

In a few areas in this report, we refer to different museum types when there are patterns or trends worth mentioning. Institutions chose from a list of categories (as many as fit their museums) when signing up to participate in the MMF study. These types include collecting, noncollecting, contemporary and/or modern, culturally specific, encyclopedic, college/university based, and city/county/state/government affiliated.