My old Museums Studies prof. told my class that the field is approximately
80% female. This statistic breaks down when you consider only Museum
Directors, who are currently disproportionately male. (If anyone out there
knows where she got these stats I would be interested to see the original
study and read more about it).

This is a significant problem at my old Museum Studies alma matter where,
out of fifteen students, I was one of two men. The current crop has only one
(out of about fifteen or sixteen). They have had a real problem recruiting
male students.

My guess - and this is pure speculation: Art museums make up a significant
part of the differences. In my experience (and only my experience) men
generally do not consider art - let alone art museums - a "masculine" thing.
In more traditionally masculine subjects (e.g. war museums) I usually see
more male staff then female. This is, of course, a gross generalization, and
I hate to imply that men are solely into war and women into art. (Darn war
mongering men!) However, the subject matters do have a disproportionate
amount of men and women falling toward either side.

Best,
George Garner


National Speedskating Museum and Hall of Fame
George Garner, Director and Curator
P.O. Box 3120, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
(518) 587-2609


|-----Original Message-----
|From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
|Behalf Of Jay Heuman
|Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2002 10:44 AM
|To: [log in to unmask]
|Subject: Question regarding "E.O.E."
|
|
|Hello Museum-Lers,
|
|As a "White (non-Hispanic) Male" - sometimes "Caucasian" - I perceive
|that I am in the minority when it comes to museum employment.  In
|reviewing the staff web pages on several museum web sites, I see the
|ratio of women to men goes from equal - 1 to 1 - to very unequal - 4 to
|1, in one case 6 to 1.  (I can't tell about other E.O.E.
|classifications.)
|
|So, my questions:
|
|        Is this a false perception?
|        Am I missing something in the bigger picture?
|        Are men a minority in museum work?
|        If men are in a minority, what do you believe
|contributes to this?
|
|Truly, I'm not looking to initiate a new round in the "blame game"; I'm
|just trying to figure out how to find a job where I can use the
|education and experience I have so far managed to acquire.
|
|Sincerely,
|Jay Heuman
|
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