I come down on Bayla's side of this discussion too. To put
          the obverse case of saying that the people I admire in this
          profession, I admire irrespective of educational background:
          The truly foul people I've met in this profession (and they
          are remarkably few) are evenly spread among content mavens,
          administration mavens, and generalists.
 
          Inquiring minds, narrow and deep content people, bean
          counters, salespeople, whatever they are, the same standards
          apply: Are they open and honest, are they generous with
          their colleagues, are they convivial and hardworking, are
          they good collaborators and active learners? These are the
          criteria for a successful museum person, in my experience
          and estimation, and people with these qualities come from
          all sorts of educational backgrounds.
 
          On the other hand, to "break into" this business that I feel
          so priveleged already to be in, I needed an MBA. No one
          would have looked at me with my undergraduate liberal arts
          degree, and I don't know that I would have been any more
          successful with a graduate liberal arts degree.
 
          I empathize with those currently trying to figure out which
          educational program will best suit them for museum work. I
          will only reiterate what has been said over and over again,
          whatever degree you pursue, please make sure that you get as
          much experience in a museum as possible. As a volunteer,
          intern, entry level, part time clerical person, gofer,
          whatever. That is the qualification that I would be looking
          for (plus references from people in the field), if I were
          hiring.
 
          Eric Siegel
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