It seems to me that someone going into museum work as a career has access to
pretty clear ideas about salary, etc.  Even if they did not, you know what
the job you are considering pays.  It is just a fact of life.  If you can't,
or won't, live on that money, then you ought not take the job.  Before you
take any job, you balance the cost of living, commuting, etc against what
they have offered you.  In that sense, the onus is on you.

Now, the question of whether or not such salaries are enough is a different,
and larger question.  If we want to work to educate our institutions about
the value we add by our work, then we should do so.  I can garuntee that it
will be a long hard pull, but some have been succesful.

Natural history museum work (and that is all I can speak to), has never,
with a few high-profile exceptions, been a very lucrative profession, not
for the scientists with PhD's, nor for the curatorial assistants (read
collections management folk).  Most are in it because of an inner drive,
because they derive some personal satisfaction from it, or, as for me, I
just think science is fun!

Doesn't mean I wouldn't like more money.  It does mean that I knew what the
job paid when I took it.

Rich White

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