Here's my devalued $Can worth:
With an MA (anthropology), solid training (internship plus academic) and
many years in museums, I have also been a consultant for a school district's
aboriginal education programs (19 years ago), and, more recently, a college
native studies instructor, manager of cultural affairs and then manager of
early childhood programs, both the latter for the Northwest Territories
Government. Like many in museums, I have moved long distances (Vancouver to
Ottawa to Prince Rupert to Vancouver to Yellowknife in Canada) for my
career. I also made job shifts outside museums to develop management
skills - and refresh my perspective. Museum folks often have broad skills,
multi-task, which are supposedly sought after in many organizations. Yes,
luck still plays a BIG part in getting jobs, and flexibility doesn't hurt.
Sure, I have had to learn to live in much smaller places than the one in
which I was raised. On the other hand, I have been able to have adventures
which I wouldn't have imagined had I stayed in "southern" Canada. My
attitudes and opinions about museums have also been challenged almost daily,
especially here in the Northwest Territories. And in a small city and a
small government, there are opportunities to try different tasks and fields.
The downside might be becoming too much of a generalist to be placed easily
in a perfect job. The upside is seeing many jobs as fun, challenging
opportunities, and learning to trust your skills outside your chosen field.
Of course, I have been back in a museum for the past seven months and
learned that, darn it all, I still love the work! So I have really enjoyed
the great debate recently, and hearing from many of you "lurkers" out
there - the 1500 or so listers who read but don't answer on line. I can only
remind beginners to get out there and push your boundaries, mentally and
physically. Move somewhere else. I am a "boomer" and I still had to take
some risks, work for much poorer wages than if I'd been a teacher or
librarian, move long distances ... but it's been great and I am curious
about where it will lead me over the next 10 years (dreaming of a slightly
early "retirement").
And when you move to the "boonies", don't think you have brought all the
answers. Read some good community development literature. Read about
communities and their ways of defining ownership of history (or whatever the
subject of the museum) - the museologist from the university won't be on
that list anywhere. You can contribute a lot and you can learn a lot. You
might even discover that you really like living away from Toronto, Montreal,
New York, DC, LA, London, Berlin or wherever.
Sorry for the long reply - pent up thoughts from the last several weeks.
Just sign me
MJ (Margaret Jean) Patterson, still enthusiastic after all these years
Yellowknife, NWT Canada
(working at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre where there are
several enthusiastic Museum-L lurkers)
-----Original Message-----
From: Donna J. Carty <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, June 22, 1998 5:56 PM
Subject: Re: "entry-level" job uproar


>As a former research scientist, I have followed this discussion with great
>interest, especially the parallel between this discussion and the
discussion
>among young and not-so-young scientists, the young finding a very tight job
>market after they've completed training, and the older finding their
>experience and high qualifications pricing them out of the market.  The
issue
> of whether the system should be producing more scientists than it could
>use came up and was immediately followed by a discussion of what you
> could do with a science degree if you stopped being a research or academic
>scientist.
>     Sooooo... what do you do with a museum degree if you don't work at a
>museum?
>