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Museums, more and more managers

Sda Bocconi's snapshot of autonomous museum directors in the ten years since Franceschini's reform. Growing weight of hybrid profiles with management, fundraising, public and governance skills

by Margherita Ceci

26 August 2025

Galleria Borghese, statua marmorea del Bernini «Ratto di Proserpina». (Imagoeconomica)

3' min read

Key points

Directors' sketch
New Skills

3' min read

The second race for the directorship of autonomous museums has begun in the middle of summer. After the appointment, in July, of the so-called 'super-directors' for the five waiting first-tier institutes - Florence's Accademia Gallery and Bargello Museums, National Archaeological Museum of Naples, National Roman Museum, Royal Museums of Turin and Archaeological Park of the Colosseum -, the Ministry of Culture published in early August the call for 14 more museums.

And while the "totonomi" for places such as the Pantheon and Castel Sant'Angelo, the Royal Palace of Naples and the archaeological park of Herculaneum is underway, the Arts and culture knowledge centre of Sda Bocconi takes stock of who the museum directors have been up to now and how the leadership of cultural venues has changed in these ten years of Franceschini's reform.

The new research, conducted on the curricula of the 88 directors (including current, completed or interim appointments), shows a paradigm shift: the 'pure humanist' director leaves room for an increasingly managerial hybrid profile. Whereas in 2015, 95 per cent of appointments declared cultural competences linked to research and curatorship, by 2024 the share had dropped to 76 per cent. In contrast, almost 90 per cent of top management now boast managerial skills, developed in the field between governance, personnel management and strategic partnerships.

A signal that does not cancel out specialist knowledge, but highlights how nowadays leading a museum also means knowing how to plan, finance, measure, involve the public and sponsors. "Today we need cultural leaders and public managers capable of combining vision and management skills with equal strength," explain Professors Alex Turrini and Marco Luchetti from Bocconi. A paradigm shift in line with the challenges of the sector: from digitalisation to fundraising campaigns, and the management of increasingly complex tourist flows.

The Directors' sketch

The 'managerial turnaround' also concerns the structure of the courses: the average term of office is 6.2 years, which is longer than the standard contractual term of office of four years. Moreover, more than half of the directors were confirmed for a second term. Thus, a tendency towards continuity is noticeable, even if internal mobility between museums - which translates into an exchange of competences - remains low: only three directors, after an encore, have moved to another state institution.

As far as gender is concerned, women account for 44.3% of appointments: a figure that signals, according to the study, 'a path of progressive evolution in gender representation, still in a settling phase, but already moving towards greater equality'.

On the internationalisation front, however, the presence of foreign directors is more concentrated in the first appointments following the reform. This may also be due to the change in the appointment procedures for selection boards, which from 2020 will provide for greater institutional representation, reducing the weight of international members.

The identikit of the average director is that of 'a man, Italian, around 50 years old, who 25 years prior to appointment holds a degree in Literature. He has a specialisation and a doctorate, has 24 years of work experience and for about 10 years worked in a private law institution. He has previous experience in both museum management and the Ministry of Culture. He possesses both managerial and cultural skills, both developed over a period of about 12 years'.

But going into detail, small differences can be found: in small museums (with revenues under 20,000 euros) the directors are on average older and have less previous management experience, while in medium and large structures there is a growing exposure to private projects, more structured governance and previous senior positions. It is there that the demand for project management, partnership and audience development becomes more explicit.

The New Skills

The challenge now goes to the new calls for tenders. The MiC is looking for hybrid figures, able to speak to the public and the markets, manage complex teams and at the same time look after cultural heritage. What does this imply for the current calls? That the recipe for success is no longer just scientific excellence. For Sda Bocconi, the next step is to structure more solid managerial training courses, today left almost entirely to experience in the field, and to encourage mobility programmes between institutions. In short: overcome the false alternative between director-intellectual and director-manager, and consolidate a profile that holds together cultural vision, economic sustainability and public impact. An approach that, according to the researchers, could 'strengthen the cohesion of the system and stimulate innovation'.