5) Supportive leaders are instrumental to structural change

#MeToo is a grassroots movement and it is important to recognise the significance of its “bottom-up” mobilisation. However, in our research, we observed that impactful, structural change was made possible when instigators were able to meaningfully cooperate with people that held power within organisations.

This has been shown to be particularly true within arts education, although we think that the example they provide can be relevant to other types of organisations. Several of our interviewees working in arts education (for example, Roman Kuhar, dean of Faculty of Arts, University of Slovenia, Agata Adamiecka-Sitek, ombudswoman at The Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw and Jasna Žmak, Student Support Coordinator at Academy of Dramatic Arts, University of Zagreb) pointedly said that their organisation would not have meaningfully evolved without the initiative and determination of students. And these same people also pointed out they felt lucky to be in an organisation that was led by people who listened to testimonies, welcomed discussion, and facilitated the change process.

On the other hand, one of our interviewees pointed at a situation in the art institution they worked in, where the will to change was quite limited: the leadership was willing to meet the expectations of funders by preparing required preventive procedures, but was not interested in putting them into practice. As a consequence, some of the employees decided to facilitate a change on their own, starting from their department, but were aware the process will have a limited impact on the whole institution unless it is actively supported by the leaders.

Being an organisational leader with a high-level of responsibility can be an isolating experience for many people. Sometimes, as part of the change process, they can themselves feel that they become the targets of generalised frustration or anger, becoming representative of an entire system of which they may only be partially an architect. For example, one organisational leader that we interviewed described feeling “singled-out” during the process of addressing a problem of gender-based violence in their context. “I was told many times that ‘I need to go,’” they said. “For me, #MeToo symbolised becoming a target.” Because of this social isolation and emotional risk, leaders themselves need support in order to continue to be effective facilitators of structural change within their organisations. Another of our interviewees suggested that cultural networks could play an important part in increasing connections and solidarity, allowing leaders to have a solid selection of peers to turn to when facing difficult situations and to whom they could offer advice.