Age discrimination is the single most bias that we experience with our
clients -- from museum directors to gallery owners to auction house
representatives.  There seems to be a notion that "older" means being more
rigid, inflexible, and less likely to change.  Of course, being adverse to
change is entirely a personal matter no matter what the age of the employee.
Our experience is that older, more experienced candidates who have committed
to a life in museums, arts and culture, are the most flexible both in their
ideas and in their performance as employees. In addition, in New York and
other states inquiring about a person's age, religion, sexual orientation,
etc., is illegal -- yet just a few weeks back a museum director called me to
profile his ideal candidate -- starting with "...I think I'm looking for a
young person, preferably female."  Our organizations need to develop
professional human resources departments that can advocate for employees,
develop skills, and help hiring managers understand the need for unbiased
recruitment and that also are committed to hiring people from the field.
There are several generations of experienced museum staff to be hired for
our organizations; yet, more and more we look outside the field to fill many
positions.  As museum studies and arts administration courses are on the
upswing, can we not make a commitment to advancing our own and establishing
good HR policies that also focus on how to museums better workplaces.
Cheers!  Geri Thomas
 
Geri Thomas, President
Thomas & Associates, Inc.
6 East 39th Street #1200
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212.779.7059
Fax:  212.779.7096
www.artstaffing.com 

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