While Patrick Boylan's analogy is a bit harsh, I did notice several things
about the museum field that seemed to defy explanation.  In most graduate
art history programs, the vast majority of degree candidates are women.  I'd
say from my experience and those of my friends, it was often 75-80% female.
Yet the vast majority of high-level museum jobs (such as directorships) are
held by men.  We had a running joke that a museum job would be perfect if
one had a trust fund or wealthy spouse- this would allow the person to
donate objects to his/her own department, thus becoming invaluable to the
museum establishment!  Another very odd dichotomy was that although the pay
at museums (and galleries) is low, one is expected to be not only highly
educated, but also have a certain "look".  It is not easy to buy those
Armani suits when you can barely pay the rent- yet you can't be dressed like
a slob when you meet trustees....