I am one such graduate student (University of Toronto) and I take exception
to your comments.

Although it may be true that there is a "labour market oversupply",  I
think that if you looked in any labour market, you would find similar
patterns in this period of global economic recovery.

As far as your comments about North American training methods, I don't know
to which programmes you referred.  The programme at the University of
Toronto is highly competitive, structured, limited in size and is a balance
between academic theory and practical experience.

I believe that my training at the University of Toronto will make me
competitive for any job that should arise within my area of interest.  The
North American system of "free-form" (if that's what it is called) is more
structured than you believe and it offers the opportunity for creativity
yet discipline.  Although I may be new to the museum field, I don't think
that these would be considered flaws.

Visit the University of Toronto Museum Studies Home Page at:

        http://www.utoronto.ca/museum/museum.htm

Stephanie James
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Henry Grunder <[log in to unmask]> wrote in article
<[log in to unmask]>...
> From time to time inquiries appear on this list from young
> persons asking which "museum studies" graduate professional program
> is recommended, or how to turn a baccalaureate in x into a museum
> career. I read this with a touch of sadness. They should read
> the sobering realities. One of these is the government document
> _Occupational Outlook_, which I believe is issued periodically
> by either Commerce or Labor. Another obligatory read is "The
> Great Skill Overkill," _Museums Journal_, Feb. 1996, 21-24.
> The gist is a labor market oversupply. This is a UK journal and
> is about UK conditions. However, Americans contemplating such
> careers can be certain that they will find themselves in
> competition for jobs with the labor oversupply from other countries,
> using various dodges and strategms - such as the much-abused
> "student visa," a major back door into permanent resident
> status - to get around the INS.
> In some of those countries the training structure and process
> are much better organized than in the US (free-form is
> defiantly touted as a strength of the US method, if method it
> be). I could readily sympathize with any administrator,
> presented with a hiring choice between a US candidate with a
> correspondence credential, and a (say) ULeicester MA, doing
> everything by hook or crook to get the latter.
>
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