The Road Ahead: A Sharing Session for Emerging BIPOC Museum Professionals

ID: WMA2026_634

Track:

Facilitated by Native Hawaiian graduate students Gabbi Lee (PhD student, American Studies and Museums Studies Graduate Certificate program, UH Manoa) and Hattie Keonaona Hapai (MA student, UCLA/Getty Conservation program), this session will begin with several students sharing their thoughts, fears, and concerns as they enter the museum field in the midst of a myriad of challenges. It will then broaden into a fishbowl session with others joining in the conversation. Leadership from WMA and other organizations will be in attendance in order to learn how to support, attend to, and address these issues into the future.

Session Information

Format: Regular session/panel (roundtable, single speaker, etc.)

Uniqueness: Young and emerging professionals consistently request more content for them at WMA conference. This not only is being led by two such students, but it will also engage others in the conversation and will provide a platform for expression. I cannot think of a similar offering in the past.

Objectives: Objectives: (1) To build solidarity and community among young and emerging BIPOC and other museum professionals and (2) To provide an opportunity for museum leadership to hear from EMPs first hand. Potential outcomes: (1) possible white paper or summary of EMP concerns and (2) possible opportunities to address these issues and concerns via WMA leadership, etc.

Engagement: This will be student led, with students and emerging professionals sharing stories, hopes, fears and concerns. As our field faces financial, political, and other challenges, anxiety levels can be high for young and emerging professionals. The burden can be even heavier for BIPOC students. NOTE: It is possible that we open the session up beyond BIPOC in order to encourage greater participation.

Relationship to Theme:

Audience

Audiences: Curators/Scientists/Historians Marketing & Communications (Including Social Media) Other Registrars, Collections Managers 

Professional Level: Emerging Professional Mid-Career Senior Level Student 

Scalability: With the need for a continued pipeline for students and EMPs into the museum field, this content will apply to all organizations looking to support their future hires.

Participants