The Racialized Organization: Children’s Museums and the (Re)Production of Racial Inequity through Organizational Practices

• In Event: Critical Theories of Children's Museums: Unforgetting Institutional Harms and Imagining Equitable Futures

Abstract

Purpose: Children’s museums, like many institutions, often position themselves as race-neutral, framing their work around broad notions of inclusion while avoiding direct engagement with race and equity. Drawing on theories of racialized organizations and institutional logics, this conceptual paper challenges claims of neutrality by examining how children’s museums—and the broader field in which they operate—are racialized as White and reproduce racial inequity. By thoroughly interrogating these racialized patterns, practitioners and scholars alike can better understand the possibilities for disrupting these patterns and dismantling the racialized status quo.

Theoretical Framework: This paper draws on Ray’s (2019) theory of racialized organizations to examine how children’s museums construct identity and approach racial equity, arguing that race-neutrality often masks racialized norms and inequalities. It bridges an organizational lens with field-level analysis, using institutional logics (Friedland & Alford, 1991; Thornton et al., 2012) and critical race institutional logics (Squire, 2016; Daramola, 2024) to show how dominant ideologies reproduce racial inequities under the guise of neutrality across the museum sector.

Data/Methods: This conceptual paper uses Ray’s (2019) theory of racialized organizations to examine how children’s museums reflect and reproduce racialized organizational norms. It focuses on the four tenets of racialized organizations: (1) the enhancement or diminishment of agency for different racial groups; (2) the legitimation of unequal resource distribution; (3) Whiteness as a credential; and (4) the racialized decoupling of formal rules from organizational practice. I draw on examples from existing empirical studies, organizational reports, and critical analyses of museum practice. These examples are analyzed through the lens of the four tenets to identify how racialized dynamics operate within children’s museums, particularly in their internal organizational structures (e.g., hiring, leadership, governance) and external discursive practices (e.g., mission statements, DEIA language, and public positioning). Building on field-level scholarship that critiques the racialization of institutional logics (e.g., Squire, 2016), the paper also theorizes how these patterns may be reinforced across the broader museum sector. In doing so, it offers conceptual insights into how racialized organizational logics manifest in informal learning institutions and proposes potential avenues for disrupting these logics in pursuit of racial equity.

Results: This paper argues that children’s museums function as racialized organizations in ways that align with Ray’s (2019) four tenets. The examples provided illustrate how racialized dynamics are embedded in various aspects of museum practice. These include: (1) the articulation of organizational identity and purpose, often framed through race-neutral narratives of inclusion; (2) internal policies and hiring practices that diminish the agency and resources of staff of color ; (3) participation in a funding landscape that legitimizes unequal resource distribution across institutions differently racialized; and (4) the use of DEIA statements as formal commitments that are frequently decoupled from substantive organizational change. Together, these patterns demonstrate how children’s museums—like many institutions—are shaped by and help sustain racialized logics. At the same time, the paper identifies spaces of possibility for disrupting these patterns and advancing more racially conscious and justice-oriented forms of organizational practice for children’s museums.

Author

• Ashlyn Salvage, University of Pittsburgh