Knowledge Exchange: Removing Class Barriers with Museum as Muck

In this recorded Knowledge Exchange event Michelle McGrath, from Museum as Muck, explains class barriers within the museum workforce and explores how they can be dismantled.

Museum as Muck is a supportive network of working class museum people making change in the sector.

00:00:03 – 00:00:11: Alix Homfray from Museums Galleries Scotland kicks of the Knowledge Exhange and Introduces Michelle McGrath from Museum as Muck.

00:00:12 – 00:03:45: Michelle McGrath introduces herself and the intended direction and structure for the talk. She shares a little bit more about her experiences in the sector for the past 18 years and explains how these have led to the creation of Museum as Muck, a network of people from low socio-economic backgrounds, raising awareness about class inequality in the museum sector and advocating for change.

00:03:46- 00:21:45: Michelle McGrath explains key concepts and definitions needed to understand Museum as Muck, such as what they mean by ‘socio-economic background’ and ‘working class’. She also goes over statistics for the sector workforce in the UK, highlighting the under representation of people from a low socio-economic background in the museum sector and continues to explain how this realisation led to the creation of Museum as Muck as a network. She discusses some of the barriers and common experiences many members had in the sector and shares more figures comparing their membership with the wider sector workforce, demonstrating wider systemic inequalities within the sector for the minority of working-class people who are included in the workforce. She also provides an overview of their membership and it’s diversity including geographically within the UK.

00:21:46 – 00:32:25: Michelle McGrath provides an overview of what Museum as Muck actually do. They are first and foremost a community organisation and supportive network, but a lot of work goes into advocating for change and fighting inequality in the sector and supporting the sector to do better. She goes over the types of events they hold for members and the types of events / training opportunities they offer to museum organisations across the UK.

00:32:26 – 00:41:02: More practical / personal section of the talk, where Michelle McGrath leads listeners to through ten questions to reflect on their own level of class privilege, which leads to further reflection on the barriers facing working class people in the sector and the lived experiences of members of Museum as Muck.

00:41:03 – 00:53:14: Michelle McGrath discusses the impact of Museum as Muck’s work on their community of members, on their museum partners and on the sector as whole, following a study by researchers from the University of Leicester.

00:53:15 – 01:03:35: Michelle McGrath shares a more in-depth case study of their work supporting Birmingham Museums Trust to tackle class inequality in their organisation, from training their teams, consulting across their workforce, to developing action plans – highlighting key lines of questioning that are important to keep in mind for any museum organisation.

01:03:36-01:04:15: Michelle McGrath shares contact details to reach out to Museum as Much or get involved and thanks listeners.