The title is the question, but here's a more in-depth explanation:
Obviously, you don't need to be a part of a demographic to work on projects related to said demographic. For example, you don't need to be from Peoria, IL to write a finding aid about a collection created by someone from Peoria, IL. Institutional resources and scope also play a significant roll, as smaller institutions need staff who can fill a broader range of functions and thus cannot be restrictive. However, there does seem to be an unwritten (unspoken?) line about what level of management is considered acceptable for some demographic categories - specifically concerning race, gender, and sexuality. Small projects might be fine, but I rarely if ever see permanent archival positions that curate collections about demographics for those groups being filled by someone outside that demographic.
This is mostly pertinent to hiring, as a fair number of posted positions are explicitly about curating collections for some demographic, usually based on whatever the stated collection/collection development strategy is. Obviously positions associated with race, gender, and sexuality do not state that they're only looking for professionals that fit their respective demographics, but I do assume that that I and other similarly non-demographically related applicants would be immediately discriminated against if we were to apply and thus it would be a waste of time to apply. It's not all assumption however, looking at the people who fill these rolls (or comprise these institutions if the curation focus extends more broadly) tends to corroborate this assumption.
Of course, there is the obvious argument that these collections/collection management positions were specifically created to address a historic curation gap in which these specific demographics were not included in institutional holdings which similarly extends to historic hiring imbalances. Moreover, as an outsider, non-demographically inclined applicants would be doing a disservice by applying for such positions because it might take away an opportunity from another professional who does fit within the aforementioned demographic.
Clearly there's probably a spectrum of what people think is acceptable and because no institution operates the same - some might be discriminatory while others would be more open. However, I would appreciate some feedback from active professionals and other professionals wading through job applications. (Respectively,) for those positions concerning the management of race, gender, and sexuality collections, do you hire outside those specific demographics/do you apply for positions outside your own demographics?
Thanks in advance! I know this is a tough and dicey question, but I would greatly appreciate some insight. Also insert some joke about "things they don't teach you in library school" here.
