Findings: Discrimination and Harassment
Workplace discrimination and harassment have profoundly corrosive effects on workers and cause retention issues within individual museums and across the field at large. Research consistently shows that discrimination and harassment harm employee well-being and job performance, reduce productivity while increasing stress and turnover, and ultimately damage both individual and organizational outcomes.62
We define discrimination as unfair treatment and harassment as unwelcome conduct—including name-calling, intimidation, offensive jokes, threats, and physical assault—based on one’s identity. To better understand the duration of consequences of workplace discrimination and harassment, the 2025 survey asked specifically about the timing of these experiences at workers’ current institutions.
In this section, we explore the sources and impacts of discrimination in art museums, as well as the persistent gap in redressing these harms in the workplace. Most pressingly, while art museum workers overall have made sizable gains in workplace culture and career satisfaction, those improvements are nullified for those who have experienced recent discrimination or harassment. These workers consistently rate every culture and satisfaction metric significantly lower, and they report worse current and future career outlooks than their colleagues.
Even more concerning, significant impediments to accountability remain, lessening the potential to meaningfully redress instances of discrimination and harassment.
Overall Experiences of Discrimination
One-fifth (20%) of art museum workers have experienced one or more instances of discrimination or harassment in their current museum workplace, a 6% drop in all experiences of discrimination and harassment since 2023.
One in five art museum workers (20%) has experienced discrimination or harassment in their current museum workplace.
More than a quarter (26%) of BIPOC workers have experienced discrimination or harassment at their current museum. 28% of Black workers have experienced discrimination, more than any other racial or ethnic group.
Figure 50. Art Museum Workers Who Have Experienced Discrimination, by Race/Ethnicity
Have you felt discriminated against or harassed on the basis of your gender, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic background, social or economic status, religion, age, or disability while working in your current museum workplace?*
* Proportion of respondents who answered “yes”
Digging further, we see that the majority of workers who have experienced discrimination in their current workplace have experienced it in the past two years, which we classify as “recent discrimination.” 15% of art museum workers overall have experienced recent discrimination at their current museum. However, a quarter (25%) of Black workers have had recent experiences of discrimination at their current museum, nearly double that of white workers (13%).
More than a quarter (27%) of nonbinary workers have experienced recent discrimination, about twice the rate of men or women (11% and 14%). When expanded to include experiences of discrimination beyond the past two years, that number rises to 34% for nonbinary workers (compared to 15% for men and 19% for women).
Figure 51. Range of Discrimination Experiences in Art Museums, by Gender
Have you felt discriminated against or harassed on the basis of your gender, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic background, social or economic status, religion, age, or disability while working in your current museum workplace?*
* Proportion of respondents who answered “yes”
Frequency of Discrimination
The frequency of discrimination varies widely across groups within art museums. A quarter (25%) of those art museum workers who have experienced recent discrimination report these instances occurring multiple times a month or more. Among those with recent experiences of discrimination or harassment, BIPOC staff (29%) also experience more frequent discrimination (“a few times a month” to “daily”) than White workers (21%). Reports of frequent experiences are higher among nonbinary workers (31%), union members (30%), Asian workers (29%), and Hispanic or Latine/x workers (29%), in particular.
The rate and frequency of experiences of discrimination is lowest at the entry level, with 10% who have had recent experiences of discrimination (compared to 18%–23% among workers at other position levels) and, of those, 91% reported the frequency of discrimination was rare (a few times total or once or twice per year). The majority (63%) of executive level workers who have experienced recent discrimination report it occurring multiple times a month or more. This is more than twice the frequency reported by other position levels.
Figure 52. Frequency of Recent Discrimination
How often have you felt discriminated against and/or harassed while working in your current museum workplace?
Sources of Discrimination
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of workers who have experienced discrimination in the past two years were discriminated against by a colleague.
Figure 53. Sources of Recent Discrimination Among Art Museum Workers
Thinking about the last two years, who discriminated against or harassed you? Please select all that apply.
Types of Discrimination
The most common types of discrimination in art museums are those based on gender, age, and race/ethnicity, in that order. This was also true in 2023. As addressed above, nonbinary and BIPOC workers have experienced a higher likelihood and frequency of discrimination. In this section, we will explore the significantly higher rates of specific types of discrimination nonbinary and BIPOC workers experience as well.
Figure 54. Types of Recent Discrimination Among Art Museum Workers
Thinking about the last two years, which of the following forms of discrimination and/or harassment have you experienced in your current museum workplace? Select all that apply.
Gender-based discrimination is the most common type of discrimination faced by art museum workers. Among the 15% of art museum workers who have experienced recent discrimination, nearly half (48%) say it was gender based, with the highest rates among executive-level staff (75%) and nonbinary workers (73%).
Just 11% of Baby Boomers with recent experiences of discrimination report it was based on gender, the lowest by far of any generation. As we reported in 2023, this may be due to the normalization of such discrimination that older workers experienced earlier in their careers, as well as the much lower likelihood of Baby Boomers identifying as nonbinary (2% of Baby Boomers vs. 24% of Gen Z).
Figure 55. Recent Gender-Based Discrimination Among Art Museum Workers, by Gender
Of those who have experienced discrimination at their current museum workplace, the proportion who selected “Discrimination and/or harassment based on gender (including pregnancy, gender expression, gender identity, etc.)”
Age-based discrimination is most commonly experienced by Baby Boomers (79% vs 41% overall), followed by Gen Z (45%), within the past two years. While there are slight differences in generational composition within different-sized institutions, they do not fully explain the large gap in age-based discrimination. This may indicate another area where small institutions outperform their larger counterparts: how their staff are navigating intergenerational workplaces.
Figure 56. Recent Age-Based Discrimination Among Art Museum Workers, by Generation
Of those who have experienced discrimination at their current museum workplace, the proportion who selected “Discrimination and/or harassment based on age”
Race-based discrimination is more commonly experienced by BIPOC workers compared to white workers, and the gap is widest for Black workers (80%) and Native American/Alaska Native workers (73%).
Executive-level staff, the position level with the second highest racial and ethnic diversity after the entry level, also experience much more race-based discrimination than any other level. 58% of executives who have experienced recent discrimination say it was race based. Given the notable decrease in Black executives that we explored in the Workplace Diversity section in Workplace Culture, the high level of race-based discrimination among Black workers and executives is another key opportunity for improvement.
Figure 57. Recent Race-Based Discrimination Among Art Museum Workers, by Race/Ethnicity
Of those who have experienced recent discrimination at their current museum workplace, the proportion who selected “Discrimination and/or harassment based on race and/or ethnicity"
Impacts of Discrimination
Experiences of discrimination have profoundly negative impacts on workers’ assessments of their workplace cultures. Unfortunately, although not surprisingly, art museum workers who have experienced recent discrimination are significantly more likely to be actively job-seeking, with 77% reporting that they have looked for a job at another institution within the last 12 months (compared to 49% overall). They are also much more likely to have considered leaving the field altogether (73% vs. 54% overall). This underscores the importance of institutional accountability in addressing discrimination or harassment if museums want to retain these workers.
Responses from those who experienced discrimination incidents two or more years ago now align more closely with those who have never experienced discrimination in their current museum than those with recent experiences of discrimination. However, keep in mind that this data only reflects those who chose to stay in their current workplaces after experiencing discrimination. Many workers who have experienced this type of mistreatment may have already left their museum or the field altogether, so their perspectives would not be reflected in the data.
Figure 58. Art Museum Workers Actively Looking for Another Job: Workers with Recent Experiences of Discrimination vs. Overall
Have you actively looked for another job at a different organization within the last 12 months?
Among those who have considered leaving their jobs for another art museum, 11% say it is due to experiences of discrimination or harassment, which is even more common among Asian and Black workers (both 17%). Higher proportions of Black, Hispanic or Latine/x, and Asian workers who have considered leaving the field also cite experiences of discrimination or harassment as one of the reasons (21% for Black, 14% for Hispanic or Latine/x, and 12% for Asian workers, compared to 8% overall).
Additionally, on the emotional front, workers who have experienced discrimination feel far less excited, content, hopeful, inspired, and connected to others by significant margins. They also feel significantly more worried, sad, angry, and disappointed (see fig. 61).
Figure 59. Workplace Experience: Workers with Recent Discrimination vs. No Discrimination
Please rate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements in relation to the culture of your current museum workplace. *
* The proportion of respondents who agree or strongly agree with this statement, indicated by selecting a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale
Figure 60. Career Satisfaction: Workers with Recent Discrimination vs. No Discrimination
In your current employment situation, how satisfied are you with each of the following characteristics?*
* The proportion of respondents who are satisfied or very satisfied with this characteristic, indicated by selecting a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale
Figure 61. Emotional Landscape: Workers with Recent Discrimination vs. No Discrimination
Thinking about the past month in your workplace, which of the following emotions do you most associate with working at your museum? Select up to THREE.
Impact of Discrimination on Career Outlook
In addition to the deleterious effects of discrimination and harassment on workplace culture and career satisfaction, workers with recent experiences of such incidents also have less favorable career outlooks. They are more than twice as likely to be suffering when considering their career today (35% vs. 17% overall), and they expect to be still suffering in five years (21% vs 8% overall). They are also 22% less likely to be thriving now and 21% less likely to expect to be thriving in five years (see fig. 62). For more on this scale for measuring outlook, see Career Outlook in the Career Satisfaction section.
Figure 62. Impact of Discrimination on Negative Career Outlook: Art Museum Workers with Recent Experiences of Discrimination vs. Overall
Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible work life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible work life for you. On which step of the ladder would you personally feel your work life is at this time?*
* Responses grouped following the Gallup Life Evaluation Index: thriving (7 or above), surviving (5–6), or suffering (4 or below)
Figure 63. Impact of Discrimination on Positive Career Outlook: Workers with Recent Experiences of Discrimination vs. Overall
Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible work life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible work life for you. On which step of the ladder would you personally feel your work life is at this time?*
* Responses grouped following the Gallup Life Evaluation Index: thriving (7 or above), surviving (5–6), or suffering (4 or below)
Worker Responses to Discrimination
The most common responses workers take after experiencing discrimination are “no action at all” (37%) or “speaking with a neutral employee who did not report” (37%), followed by “speaking with an HR staff member” (30%) (see fig. 64). This highlights a troubling dynamic where the majority of workers with recent experiences of discrimination seem to regard their mistreatment as unaddressable through the available mechanisms, which only serves to normalize inaction.63
It is a sign of positive change that the proportion of workers who took no action after their experience of discrimination has decreased to 37% from nearly half (47%) in 2023 (see fig. 65).64 However, art museum workers in 2025 are no more likely to report these experiences to HR than they were in 2023.
There is some variance in worker responses to experiences of discrimination depending on generation and position level. Both the likelihood of reporting to an HR staff member and filing an HR complaint generally increase with position level (17% of entry-level workers talk to an HR staff member vs. 36% of executive-level workers).
Among workers who took no action in response to experiences of discrimination or harassment, 70% say it is because they thought nothing would be done about it, and 56% say it is because they do not trust HR.
Interestingly, only 5% of workers who chose not to take any action in response to discrimination chose “I reported in the past and no action was taken” as a reason, indicating that, for the majority, their decision was not necessarily based on a previous negative experience with reporting. Viewed in the context of the most common responses for not reporting (“I thought nothing would be done about it,” “I don’t trust HR,” and “I worried about retaliation”), this finding suggests a broader lack of trust within these workplaces. Our survey did not ask about whether the participants had ever witnessed discrimination against others in their workplace, which might inform workers’ decisions around reporting.
Fifteen percent of workers who experienced discrimination and decided not to take any action say they were unsure of the action they could take, and 10% say their workplace provides no mechanism for reporting. Executive-level staff are most likely to say that they have no mechanisms for reporting their own experiences of discrimination and harassment. This indicates that institutional practices related to transparency and communication may signal to workers that accountability for discrimination is not a priority, whether or not that is the case. We explore this dynamic further by looking at data on HR/staff alignment in the next section.
Figure 64. Art Museum Workers’ Responses to Recent Discrimination
Thinking about the last two years, have you taken any of the following actions in response to discrimination and/or harassment in your current museum workplace? Select all that apply.
Figure 65. Reasons for Inaction in Response to Recent Discrimination in Art Museums
If you have experienced any discrimination or harassment and decided NOT to take action in response, what were your reasons? Select all that apply.
These issues of nonreporting are even more acute in larger museums. Distrust of HR as the reason for inaction is higher for workers at large museums (those with annual budgets over $15 million) compared to small museums (less than $5 million): 66% of workers at large museums who chose not to report recent discrimination say it is because they do not trust HR compared to 39% at small museums.
Meanwhile, workers at small museums tend to have greater confidence in institutional accountability for discrimination and harassment, greater trust in HR, higher satisfaction with how their complaints are resolved by HR, and less concern about retaliation for reporting. There may be structural reasons for the higher level of trust in HR within smaller museums, including that HR functions may be split between workers, handled by someone in a blended role who is more familiar within a smaller team, or managed by an external HR consultant perceived as more independent.
HR/Staff Alignment
Another metric that helps us understand the responses of workers and institutions to discrimination is the relationship between staff and leadership, particularly in terms of staff awareness of existing HR policies and practices. Specifically, we looked at the proportion of staff who were aware of existing HR practices and reported by their HR officer and found the average alignment was 56%, meaning that just over half of museum staff are aware of the basic HR practices and policies at their museums.65
This misalignment may be due to information not being communicated regularly or transparently enough by the institution and/or staff not fully engaging with employee handbooks and other information shared by HR and managers. It may also be due to differences in how staff and leadership define a policy or a lack of consistency in how a policy is applied.
Regardless of the cause, low awareness and understanding of HR policies and practices contributes to a lack of trust in the workplace, particularly for the 56% of staff who cite mistrust of HR among their reasons for not reporting their recent experiences of discrimination.
Satisfaction with Responses to Reporting Discrimination
While the rate of reporting discrimination or harassment has remained the same since 2023, satisfaction with responses among those who reported has dropped. It is important to consider the potential compounding effects of unsatisfying responses to discrimination. When workers choose to report experiences of discrimination or harassment without satisfying results, they may be less likely to report in the future, perpetuating patterns of distrust.
65% percent of workers who report their experiences of discrimination are “not at all satisfied” with the response by HR and/or the museum as a whole.
Figure 66. Satisfaction with Institutional Response to Recent Discrimination in Art Museums
Thinking about the last two years, how satisfied are you with how HR and/or the museum resolved your complaint(s) overall?*
Union Findings: Discrimination and Harassment
A higher proportion of union members have experienced discrimination (28% vs 20% overall) compared to their nonunion colleagues. Union members with these experiences are also significantly less satisfied with the outcomes of reported discrimination (81% are “not at all satisfied” vs. 65% of workers overall). This aligns with another data point where union members diverge significantly: a belief that people are not held accountable for their actions (40% of union members vs. 24% of workers overall). These beliefs, in addition to previously explored data about union members’ desire for a greater voice in decision-making, points again to a potential impetus for workers wanting to form and join unions.
The negative perceptions about how discrimination and harassment are handled in their workplace contrasts starkly with how union members see the impact of their union on these issues. For example, nearly three-quarters (73%) of union members identify protections from retaliation as an area where the union has had a positive impact. Two-thirds (67%) identify the availability of grievance procedures as another positive impact. Additionally, 16% of union members who have experienced recent discrimination used a grievance procedure to address it.66
While it remains to be seen what the long-term impact of unions may be on workers’ experiences of discrimination and reporting behaviors, as a noninstitutional mechanism to address issues in the workplace, unions are an important tool that need to be better understood in an increasingly unionized sector.
Figure 67. Union Members’ Perceptions of Union Impact on Job Security/Protections from Retaliation and Grievance Procedures in Art Museums
What impact (if any) do you believe your union has had on the following conditions at your museum over the past year?
* Responses grouped into four categories based on a 6-point scale of “Large negative impact,” “Small negative impact,” “No impact,” “Small positive impact,” “Large positive impact”, and “I don’t know”