On April 9, Sandra Harris wrote:

>>Elena is right- it's an investment in yourself and from reading this thread
I think
>>perhaps an excellent weeding out process for those who can't handle a
>>lifetime of service without large monetary reward.

Jay Smith replied:
>I would not be so bold or egotistical to think that I'm doing the museum
>field a service by "weeding out" interns who desire compensation for their
>services.  Wake up Sandra!!!

I mentioned in a post that maybe a daunting internship and professional
training period was not a bad system when there seems to be an imbalance
between the number of young graduates looking for Museum work and the
number of entry level positions available.  I was not advocating any of
these circumstances but responding to the reality of the profession.   I
do not think either Sandra or myself (or a couple of other people who
implied the same thing) are being bold or egotistical, but are responding
to what we (and I do not mean to put words into people's mouths, I am
merely relating what I sense in their posts if I am wrong correct me) see
as a lack of realistic expectations on the part of many of the students
on this list.  Yes I too would love to have had paid internships  when I
was a student, and I would love to offer them now, and based upon some
very helpful suggestions in this thread I am looking into some way of
offering at least minimal compensation.  I recognize your straits as
seeming and being insurmountable and I wish you luck with your situation.
 I hope you find what your looking for.  But I think the reality for many
years to come will be that there will be about 100 unpaid internships for
every paid one.  And that there will be a large number of applicants for
every entry level position.  And from everything I can gather from people
who have been in this line of work for a long time,  IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN
THIS WAY. So when I hear a student complaining that the program they find
themselves in requires so many hours of internship, they can't find a
paid or minimally compensated one, and they do not have the economic
wherewithal to support themselves during this period, I wonder why they
didn't inform themselves of this situation BEFORE they started their
program.   I am not blaming them or accusing them of naivete.   I think
they have been ill-served by whatever counselor, professor, professional
mentor or recruitment flier that talked them into their current programs
or choice of fields.   Someone at some point should have been very harsh
and explained the economic reality of entering this field and that
program.  Full time, formal graduate or certificate programs in Museum
Studies or Museum Education that have long internship requirements are
not the only ways to join the profession, but I doubt many recruitment
officers from these programs mention that fact.

I lament the fact that the current interning processes may care a lot of
talented people away from the profession, just as I lament the fact that
a lot of talented people leave the profession every year because of the
relatively low salaries in the field.  But young or potential museum
professionals should be warned in no uncertain terms about this situation
for their own sake, not the profession's.   Better to learn it early than
two months after your car was repo'ed.  I do not see this as a service to
the museum profession, but a service to the student.   I will be
performing a service to the profession when I bust my butt this summer
trying to come up with ways, based upon advice from this list, that some
interns from some programs can be compensated when they intern at my
institution.




THese thoughts are mine and do not reflect the opinions of my employer,
co-workers, employees, friends, relatives, or signifigant others.

Matthew A. White
Director of Education
Baltimore Museum of Industry
1415 Key Highway
Baltimore, MD 21230
(410)727-4808
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