Survey Analysis

The BCMA gratefully acknowledges funding support of this series from the Canada Council for the Arts.

With funding from a Canada Council for the Arts Seed Grant, the BC Museums Association is undertaking a research project on accountability practices. The research process is two-fold:

1. a research and consultation process to review accountability practices in other sectors, jurisdictions, and countries to better inform BCMA’s accountability practices and membership code of conduct/ethics; and
2. arts, culture and heritage sector research and consultation, including speaking with equity-deserving communities, to gain a better understanding of what supports are needed within the sector and how the BCMA can best support our members

A survey was completed under the second component of this research. It aids in the deeper understanding of needs within the arts, culture and heritage sector and allows the BCMA to better inform our member services.

The key findings from this survey include:

• People are experiencing/witnessing unethical behaviour/misconduct in their workplace
• Organizations need support in building ethics policies
• The need to go beyond policies & procedures and focus on workplace culture
• Equity-deserving groups are disproportionately impacted
• People are seeking educational resources and training opportunities
• External support systems and/or reporting systems are necessary

Video Overview

Introduction

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” This is a question the BCMA is asked regularly by members. From boards that create toxic working environments, to managers who undermine and exclude racialized workers from decisions that directly impact them, to institutions that publicly support repatriation, but privately put up barriers to reconciliation; arts and culture workers/volunteers do not have access to meaningful paths that hold harmful institutions accountable.

Professional associations like the BCMA must develop more robust professional ethics standards, systems to review and respond to complaints, and procedures for holding members/organizations who violate these standards accountable. Legal mechanisms exist for workers in unsafe workplaces, but these processes are time consuming, unwelcoming to historically marginalized communities, and provide only the barest minimum of support. The BCMA has a member code of conduct and membership review policy and process, but these mechanisms are clearly not adequate to serve our community and their diverse challenges.

Increasingly the BCMA is called on by members to take a more active role in addressing systemic racism and toxicity in the arts, culture and heritage sector. The Research Accountability Practices Project will be integral to this. In addition to a survey, the research project includes assessing how whistleblower, ethics violation, and complaint processes work in other sectors, jurisdictions, and countries. We are at the precipice of a new era of bravery and accountability within the sector and this project will be the first step towards developing impactful ethical standards.