Rural Representation: Accessibility for Rural Students and How Museums Can Help

Abstract

Through a mix of collected data from Southern museums and traditional historical sources, this project establishes that rural students are underrepresented in museums, examines the possible causes of such inequity, and investigates past attempts to address such a disparity. The data collected from these museums is meant to be quantitative in order for more comparison between the individual museums, states, and museum types. This project’s goal is two-fold: measuring the gap between urban and rural students in museum spaces in order to both establish a baseline and allow for quantitative justification of programs that address this gap, as well as examine the possible reasons for this discrepancy in an effort to assist museums in addressing the gap.