International Museum of Arts and Science
Over time we shifted from a focus on staff professional development to providing more culturally responsive and relevant STEM experiences for our Hispanic/Latino visitors.
International Museum of Arts and Science
Annual operating budget: $1 million–$4.9 million
Total number of employees: 27
Annual visitorship: 65,779
**Numbers reported for Oct 2023-Sept 2024
Our plan: Internal shifts, intentional program development
Ultimately, we aimed to provide culturally relevant STEM experiences that were responsive to the needs of our Hispanic/Latino visitors. We knew this would involve, in part, internal changes that would increase our staff’s confidence and capacity—for example, by offering more STEM content and activities at All Staff meetings, encouraging participation in STEM programs, and asking staff how they wanted to increase their STEM knowledge. It would also involve developing culturally relevant, intentional program offerings for our Hispanic/Latino visitors.
Our projects: Internal and external shifts
We revisited our Employee Handbook and our hiring practices, expectations, and pay for bilingual staff members. We implemented incremental changes such as offering internal documents in Spanish for all staff meetings and activities. We then evaluated how staff felt: did they feel accommodated, and were expectations and other information more clearly articulated. We regularly asked ourselves, “Who on staff may feel left out, and why?”
We also invited C.R.A.F.T. Cultura, a local Latinx arts advocacy group, to celebrate International Women & Girls in Science Day at the museum. The day’s programs—under the umbrella Mujeres Sembrando (Con)Ciencias (Women Sowing With Science)—focused on agricultural science and health and wellness. In one standing-room-only program, four women in STEM fields shared their experiences: a non-traditional scientist specializing in native plants and habitats, a board-certified Internal Medicine doctor, a lecturer in Gender and Women’s Studies, and a Computer Science professor working in U/X design for healthcare and biomedical research. In addition to providing an exciting and accessible STEM experience, this allowed us to establish key partnerships, build relationships, and share decision making with local organizations and community members who can grow, support, and learn from each other as we promote the value of cultural expression.
Our takeaways: Lean in to make lasting change
Over time we shifted from a focus on staff professional development to providing more culturally responsive and relevant STEM experiences for our Hispanic/Latino visitors. We’ve learned that:
- sharing power and decision-making can result in powerful positive impacts
- STEM programs by women and for women expand our community’s perceptions of women in science
- instead of defensiveness, focus on opportunities to build on what we do well
Incremental, mindful changes can help our visitors and staff feel included, safe, welcomed, and inspired. We’ll continue to gently and persistently lean into discomfort, and drive deeper thought and evaluation of our processes, conversations, programs, and procedures as IMAS works towards a more welcoming space for all.
To read other museums’ stories of change, visit our Cambio Stories page.
