Well, I will add a few cents to this discussion.

I can only speak from my experience in the museum world of Washington,
DC, and what I've heard from other museum professionals.

 From what I have heard, it was much easier to get museum jobs 15 years
ago, and you did not need an MA or PhD for most positions.  However, as
I looked for entry-level jobs in 1996 after graduating with an MA, most
museums required at least a Master's in addition to different levels of
experience.  After relocating to DC to intern at the Smithsonian, I
found many underemployed museum professionals,  administrative
assistants  and  museum techs with Masters, for example, trying to get
museum experience. However, these jobs don't  guarantee that you will
climb the ladder in an institution.

Because so many people return to graduate school within 2 years of
undergraduate studies, museums can demand graduate degrees in
curatorial, conservation, collections management, and education fields.
What is unreasonable is when a PhD is required for a curator and the
salary is $22,000.

I have an MA in American Studies and currently work as a museum
educator.  I believe that teachers should receive a degree in the
subject matter they plan to teach, because the education skills can come
later.  I realize this is a huge philosophical debate in museum
education and in the teaching field.  I believe the background is much
more difficult to pick up later.  I've seen this in interns we have had.
If you plan to be a responsible educator in history museums, you need
skills as an historian first.

I know this will be picked apart, but that is why we have this list, to
foster debate and discussion.

Sheila Brennan

        ----------
        From:  Deb Fuller [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:  Thursday, November 12, 1998 3:23 PM
        To:  [log in to unmask]
        Subject:  Advanced degree required

        Hi all!!

        I'm probably going to open up a big can 'o worms here but
there's something
        that's been bugging me as I plow through all these job
announcements.

        Why are advanced degrees required?

        I'm curious about the recent trend for more education.  It used
to be that
        one got a bachelor's in a field, worked for several years and
then
        considered getting a master's, unless one was in a
research/academic field
        like the hard sciences where one just went straight through and
got a Ph.D.
         But now it seems like to be competitive, a master's is the norm
with extra
        certificates and qualifications tacked on.  Instead of working
between
        degrees, people are going straight through and getting advanced
degrees
        which produce a whole lot of highly educated people without
experience who
        still can't get jobs.

         I also get grumbly when I see education positions requiring an
advanced
        degree in the subject matter (like art or science) but
coursework in
        education not being required.  I personally think that a
master's in art
        history does not qualify one to teach art to school groups.  A
master's in
        art education would however.  The reasoning behind this is that
education
        is the key skill in education jobs, not subject matter, which a
good
        educator can pick up pretty quickly in most cases.

        Comments from the peanut gallery would be appreciated.

        Deb, just shy of an M.Ed.  :)

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