About the Education Department

The Met's Department of Education-dedicated to making art meaningful and accessible for everyone-is central to the mission of the Museum. The Department is a national and international leader in museum-based education and public programming, pushing boundaries through continuous innovation and experimentation. In-person and virtual programs include high school and college internships that promote career development and diversity; PreK-12 educator programs that train teachers to integrate art into curricula across disciplines; lectures and symposia that feature preeminent artists and scholarship; daily tours in multiple languages, and so much more.

Within the Education Department, the Interpretive Planning & Evaluation (IPE) team works at the intersection of the social and behavioral sciences, museum pedagogy, and art history to advocate for visitor learning in exhibitions and permanent collection displays. IPE considers the practice of visitor research and evaluation to be the evidentiary basis for visitor-centered interpretive planning. Since its inception in 2022, IPE has contributed front-end, formative, and summative studies for exhibitions, reinstallations, and capital projects. These studies have allowed the Education Department to advise on and develop interpretive plans, in-gallery didactics and interactives, and educational programming. In addition to this work, the team also advises on the development of a program evaluation strategy for the Education Department as a whole.

GENERAL STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

As the Research Associate, Interpretive Planning, you will assist in scoping, developing and implementing visitor research for forthcoming in-gallery interpretive projects (capital projects, reinstallations and exhibitions) and other educational programing. You will assist the Project Manager to develop new strategies and processes for both interpretive planning and visitor evaluation. You will play an important role in expanding, uplifting and codifying the Museum's approach to visitor research and evaluation.

This is a position with an established end-date or time frame. Time frames will begin upon hire: 3 years

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

• Assist in developing, executing, and analyzing studies to evaluate educational programming and in-gallery interpretive projects

• Work with the Project Manager, IPE to facilitate the enacting of program evaluations for the Education Department, advising on research approaches, methods, etc. Serve as an administrative support for this group's efforts in program evaluation, which may include: developing timelines for evaluation projects, determining methods for data collection and analysis, and scheduling opportunities for presentations

• Work with the Project Manager, IPE to develop evaluation protocol and training toolkits and other evergreen strategies for sustaining visitor research and evaluation at The Met on a broader scale

• Train and schedule temporary employees to work on in-gallery visitor research projects

• Develop interpretive plans/interpretive frameworks for exhibitions, reinstallations, and capital projects

• As both researcher and interpretive practitioner, stay abreast of best/next practices within the interpretive planning, art historical, evaluation, and museum education fields

• As needed, present research internally and externally (industry conferences)

• As needed, supervise college and graduate interns

• As needed, assist in the upkeep of in-gallery interactives

• Other duties as assigned

REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS

• MA in Art History, Art Education, Museum Studies, Psychology, Sociology, or a related field in the humanities and/or social sciences

• 2+ years of experience working in museums

• Knowledge of best practices in program evaluation for informal learning institutions. Background doing research in a museum setting is a plus, especially with regard to interpretive projects

• Knowledge of best practices for qualitative visitor research, especially focus groups

• Knowledge of best practices for interpretive planning in art museums, proven record of enacting projects

• Strong project management/administrative skills

• Team player. Strong interpersonal skills and enthusiasm for fomenting meaningful collaborations

• Strong presentation and public speaking skills

• Interest in art, art history, and creative practice

• Fluency in Spanish preferred (reading, writing, speaking)

• Ability to work evening and weekend hours as required

COMPENSATION RANGE:

• Pay Range: $72,000.00 - $74,000.00 / Annually