I agree with Rachel.

I could not agree more.  I am finishing up my MA degree at GWU and have
been volunteering for a year.  While this is a wonderful experience, I too
CANNOT devote any further time to free labor.  Why?  Because my wonderful
education put me $24,000 in debt!  Come December my loans come due.  Loan
companies could care less if I have decided to devote myself to a
wonderful career.  They just want their money!

Believe me I understand the value of interning.  I have gained many
wonderful experiences. I have done the
collections management for almost 1000 objects, I have research many of
them, I have helped with exhibitions . . . but I am sorry at some point I
deserve to be paid for my efforts.  There seems to be a lack of balance in
this field.  Many creative, talent people are left out because they had to
completely finance their educations alone and cannot volunteer because
they were not independently wealthy before they entered the field.

Maybe a few things need to be considered.  For example, maybe it should be
harder to get into MA museum studies programs since there are not enough
jobs to support all the candidates.  Maybe museums should collect less
stuff if they cannot afford to pay the staff to care for them?  Maybe more
museums should offer paid opportunities for MA and Phd candidates to use
museum collections for their thesis papers?

Am I nuts?  Can any one relate to what I have mentioned?

Elizabeth Hanson

On Wed, 17 Jun 1998, Rachel Coffey wrote:

> To All,
>
> And in response to David Harvey in particular.
>
> I recently subscribed to this list and have witnessed all the talk about
> the availability of work [of lack thereof] for those of us who are fresh
> out of college. I appreciate that people even respond to these questions
> in this forum. After all, you have not volunteered to be our career
> counselors.
>
> It seems to me, one who is not yet lucky enough to be paid to work in a
> museum, that there is no such thing as an entry-level job in museum
> work. There is volunteer work and then there's professional work--the
> latter can only be done by those with advanced degrees.
>
> This puts those of us just starting out in an awkward position. I, for
> example, am not ready to invest more money and time into more
> education--especially when I am uncertain if another degree will help
> advance my career. I would like to have the experience to gauge the
> need/use/direction of another degree.
>
> I have already lived off of my savings to intern, and am not able to do
> this any longer.  I have also volunteered at museums. The only time I
> was paid to work at a museum I was given minimal responsibility and the
> corresponding amount of respect.
>
> I think Dave Harvey's question is an important one. He asked:
>
> >Are we only offering these formative educational and experiential
> >opportunities to those lucky few who can afford such unpaid work?
>
> And the answer is a resounding YES. I think that this fact might also
> affect the diversity of staff at museums. Isn't this a concern?
>
> I have thought at times that volunteers and interns should go on strike.
> Would a strike force institutions to raise the funds to pay their
> volunteers? Or would the museum die? Unfortunately, I think we're so
> desperate for experience leading to paid work that we could never
> organize a strike and find out what would happen. Not that I want to see
> museums go under...
>
> It seems to me that masters degrees now substitute on-the-job training.
> Do museums expect to have to TRAIN anyone any more? Do intelligence and
> creativity count? These are qualities that do not necessarily come with
> an advanced degree.
>
> Dave Harvey also wrote:
>
> >This issue of how young talent is fostered and how we can increase
> >entry-level opportunities is perhaps one of the most vital issues out
> >there today.  This would be a marvelous issue to debate in some sort of
> >professional forum.
>
> I'd just like to ask that those who are not yet professionals, but would
> like to be, be given the opportunity to contribute to that discussion.
> And I mean contribute, not complain.
>
> Thanks to all of you who are advocates on behalf of the "young talent."
>
> Here's hoping that I haven't caused any discomfort to you (nor harm to
> my chances of ever getting hired).
>
>
> Rachel Coffey
>
> [The views presented here do not reflect those of my employer, because I
> don't have one.]
>