Racial equity, reflection, and organizational change in museums

Abstract

When are equity conversations more than “just talk?” This article draws on qualitative data from two interconnected NSF-funded studies about racial equity in museums to explore the relationship between organizational reflection and organizational change. In one study, researchers interviewed staff from 29 museums that hosted the traveling exhibition RACE: Are We So Different? In the other, staff from of the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) used action research to challenge their own racial equity norms and policies during and after the permanent installation of RACE. Our results reveal a sharp contrast between reflection that is strategically undertaken to produce organizational change and reflection that emerges opportunistically in response to a traveling exhibition. Yet they also show how, in rare cases, museums were able to exploit the opportunities presented by a traveling exhibition to develop and sustain equity-oriented reflection over time.