Qualifications in the sector
We know that archives often have a small number of staff and the survey confirmed this, with the majority of respondents saying they only had the full-time equivalent of zero to two members of staff.
Only about two-thirds of the archives that responded had a qualified archivist. Higher Education, Businesses, Public Services and Charities all exceeded this average, at three quarters, and almost all local authorities, learning societies and organisations receiving funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had a qualified archivist. However, in schools, professional associations, museums, libraries and arts organisations, only half or fewer had a qualified archivist.
Diversity
Alongside this dataset, we can look at the Workforce Mapping Survey, which was conducted by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), the Archives and Records Association (ARA), The National Archives and others, to delve deeper into the demographics, skills and experiences of professionals in the library, information and archive sectors. This survey showed that the combined workforces of these sectors was not diverse at all, with 95% of staff being white, 75% being women and 42% having worked in the sector for more than 20 years.
The combination of a small, longstanding workforce with little diversity and fewer than required qualified archivists means that the sector could lack the capacity to complete important work and face gaps in both new skills and fresh perspectives, both of which are needed to keep collections safe and to engage wider audiences.
Our interventions
To address this, we’re continuing to expand our free programme of training for the sector, covering topics ranging from basic conservation to digital advocacy.
We also regularly advocate for archives to have adequate numbers of qualified staff through our involvement in Archive Service Accreditation and by regularly meeting with senior staff across archive services, local government and partner organisations.
We have also been leading on the Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeship scheme, which is starting to enable a wider range of people to become qualified archivists by providing an alternative route to a traditional postgraduate qualification.