This isn't to beg the question, but to pose a question -- what SHOULD a
starting salary in the museum field be?  Possibly those who have complained
(for good reason) might offer advice instead.

One recent writer reported that $18,000 a year in a museum was not enough
(in a two-income family) to pay for the kind of life she and her husband
wanted in Arizona.

This whole stream began with an objection to being paid $15,000 a year after
getting a master's in museum studies.

Erica, age 21, in her first job, is in panic over the low pay she is
getting -- that she can't afford food for her table at her wage.

If some Clintonian dictate could raise everyone's compensation in the museum
world, I'm sure President Bill would sign the mandate.

Suppose we subjected museum professionals to time and motion studies,
productivity measures, introduced daily teambuilding exercises,  assigned
the value of their time spent to various budget codes -- in short, we
measured their value according to the employment culture of our society at
large.  The museum experience, then, is the "product."

Or suppose we behaved like universities, where faculty have certain teaching
loads, committee responsibilities, and research obligations, must publish
regularly, and are evaluated on performance not only by their peers but by
their students?   Might we ask whether the senior people are really adding
value and/or prestige to their institutions?

Wouldn't we find that the essential job of the museum can be done with far
fewer senior people?

Institutions could downsize, freeing up the money being paid the departing
seniors, to employ the energetic let's-get-on-with-the-job Ericas at higher
starting pay, and higher productivity standards.  Virtually every major
corporation has gone through that in the 90s.

What would that pay be?  And would working in the museum have the psychic
rewards as it seems to have now?

-----Original Message-----
From: Erica Jakubowski <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l


>Recently I started working for a non-for-profit arts organization/museum.
>This is my first "job" after college.

snip

>However, the compensation has forced me to look elsewhere for future
employment

snip

I don't think any job is as fullfilling as museum work--but I also know that
I will never be able to put food on my table and live a decent life and
support the arts on the salaries of the museum world.  I am 21

snip

>My generation is saying "NO" we can not afford to work under these
conditions.
>My friends in other fields with little or no internship experience make 3
>times my salary right out of college

snip

>the fact of the matter remains this industry will continue to lose young,
firery,
>aggressive people such as myself unless they begin to realize we are their
>future and we deserve respect in terms of compensation>