The Collections Management Diversity Apprenticeship Program (CMDAP) is designed to be an alternative method to advance into the museum collections field. CMDAP combines on-the-job training with traditional readings - while paying a living wage - in order to train people who may not otherwise be able to advance into the museum collections field.

While museums are increasing their commitment to being accessible to people from diverse backgrounds, access is not enough - it is also important for all people to feel comfortable and welcome in our institutions. Having people of diverse backgrounds on staff at museums is an important step to this goal. Though collections staff do much of their work outside of the public’s view, they also often meet with school groups of all ages, researchers, local community members, descendant communities, and the general public through various programming, tours, and other public outreach. Seeing diverse staff can lead these visitors to have a greater sense of belonging and can lead to students seeing themselves working in museums in the future.

In order to be considered for a career in collections management, candidates often must have completed a master’s degree, internship, and volunteer experience. Requiring those who want to work with museum collections, especially those without generational wealth, to get an expensive master’s degree that may not lead to a career with a living wage skews the field even further from equity and diversity. Furthermore, many internships offered are unpaid and are required for the completion of these costly master’s degrees. There is a need for another, more equitable, option. While there is a national push to stop offering unpaid internships and to ensure a living wage for all museum staff, with the acknowledgement that the current system takes advantage of workers who are passionate about this work, change is slow in museums, especially when finances are concerned. A paid apprenticeship program, which combines the best of academic learning and hands-on training, is one option to increase the diversity in the field. 

• Apprenticeships allow for those interested in specific careers to earn a wage while participating in on-the-job training, without having to go into debt getting a degree. They offer experiential learning and mentors to support and encourage the apprentices.

• We envisioned this apprenticeship as a 1-year immersive and integrative learning experience, and an alternative to a traditional Master of Arts degree in Museum Studies. 

• This apprenticeship is a combination of hands-on, practical skill-building and the scholarly study of legal, ethical, and theoretical issues.

• It also offers an opportunity to shadow staff in the host institution, but also partner museums in the region.

While CMDAP was initially created for implementation at The Field Museum of Natural History, we have provided our documents so they can be edited and used by any host institution. We have provided sample course materials and sample grant documents to help you get the program started at your institution. This program can be used by anyone under a CC BY-NC license.  

We want to help implement this program in your institution. If you have specific questions or feedback, please fill out our Google Form, or contact us directly.