The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) and the National Center for Arts Research (NCAR) undertook a study to understand the gender gap in museum leader positions and explore potential factors to help its member institutions advance towards greater equality.
Across all AAMD member museums, women hold less than 50% of directorships, and the average female director’s salary lags behind that of the average male director. The overall disparities in the number of female art museum directors and in their salaries are mostly driven by the largest museums.
These museums have operating budgets of more than $15 million and represent roughly the top quarter of member museums by operating budget. At these largest museums, female directors earn 71 cents on average for every dollar earned by male directors. For the other three quarters of member museums with budgets of less than $15 million, female directors on average earn $1.02 for every dollar that male directors earn.
- Learn more in the full report
