The results of last month’s Quick Take Poll on anti-discrimination in the workplace demonstrated just how important it is to have an anti-discrimination policy at your organization, and to make sure everyone is familiar with it. While nearly half of the poll respondents (48%) stated that they had experienced discrimination in the workplace (at a museum or elsewhere), look at the difference a policy makes:
Nearly two-thirds of the respondents who answered “no” or “I’m not sure” to “Does your museum have an anti-discrimination policy?” feel they have been discriminated against in the workplace. This proportion is much smaller - 25% - among respondents who are at museums with policies that the respondent knows about. It is also interesting to note that 45% of respondents are not sure whether their museums have a policy – slightly more than then number who answered “yes” to this question (43%).
Gender discrimination was the most frequently mentioned type of discrimination experienced (46% of respondents who had experienced some kind of discrimination), followed by age discrimination (38%). Nearly a quarter of the respondents had also experienced harassment and/or sexual harassment in the workplace (both 23%).
Is this information prompting you to establish an anti-discrimination policy in your organization, or to re-evaluate the policy you currently have in place? Check out the Museum Document Exchange on NEMA’s website, where several generous member museums have shared their personnel policies for the benefit of other members.
Next Quick Take Poll: Museum Metrics
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