Open Forum

Question: What family-centered and new parent employee benefits does your museum offer as part of your employee benefit package?

Example: paid parental leave; adoption assistance subsidizes; childcare support; partner day care; flexible work arrangements; dependent care FSA; family leave policies; gradual return-to-work programs

As a new mom working full time in the museum field I am very interested to learn what museums are offering to our working parents. I am compiling a list of benefits offered and would like to see if there's enough information/interest on the topic to write an article about this. 

I recently completed an MPA degree and wrote about childcare as part of my final capstone. Through that research it became clear that in the long term offering these benefits is better for a company in both staff engagement and financially, although many organizations don't offer them. I would like to do an evaluation of the museum field to assess what is offered, how we can do better, and how offering these benefits would positively impact our institutions. 

Note: If this develops into something published, I would group the museums by region and not name specific benefits to specific museums, so anyone wanting to provide information knows that I will not be broadcasting particulars, unless given approval. 

All insights are appreciated! If there's enough interest, I will create a survey to collect the data. 

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Alexandra Krueger
Director of Museum Administration
New-York Historical Society
New York NY
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Good morning, Alexandra.

You may want to send your question/survey to GEMM (Gender Equity in Museums Movement). Working parenthood is right up GEMM's street and hopefully you will get a response. You may also want to get a hold of a copy of Women in the Museum: Lessons from the Workplace. Chapter 8, "Museum Women & Family Ties," deals with some of the issues women cope with in the workplace including childcare. It was published in 2017, but sadly most of the issues haven't changed.

Be well,

Joan Baldwin

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Joan Baldwin
Curator-Special Collections - The Hotchkiss School
Leadership Matters
Lakeville CT
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-11-2024 08:48 AM
From: Alexandra Krueger
Subject: Family-centered/New Parent Employee Benefits

Question: What family-centered and new parent employee benefits does your museum offer as part of your employee benefit package?

Example: paid parental leave; adoption assistance subsidizes; childcare support; partner day care; flexible work arrangements; dependent care FSA; family leave policies; gradual return-to-work programs

As a new mom working full time in the museum field I am very interested to learn what museums are offering to our working parents. I am compiling a list of benefits offered and would like to see if there's enough information/interest on the topic to write an article about this. 

I recently completed an MPA degree and wrote about childcare as part of my final capstone. Through that research it became clear that in the long term offering these benefits is better for a company in both staff engagement and financially, although many organizations don't offer them. I would like to do an evaluation of the museum field to assess what is offered, how we can do better, and how offering these benefits would positively impact our institutions. 

Note: If this develops into something published, I would group the museums by region and not name specific benefits to specific museums, so anyone wanting to provide information knows that I will not be broadcasting particulars, unless given approval. 

All insights are appreciated! If there's enough interest, I will create a survey to collect the data. 

------------------------------
Alexandra Krueger
Director of Museum Administration
New-York Historical Society
New York NY
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