As a very long time lurker of the list server I have been reading this thread with much interest. I am puzzled that no one has brought up one important issue bears much weight on museum employment. Market saturation. A previous poster mentioned doctors receive far more pay for their years in school. Medical schools look very careful at current national employment trends and accept only the number of students that they feel could be gainfully employed in the field. Do most graduate schools offering masters and doctorates museums related do the same? Of course not. In the traditional graduate program no promises are made in terms of securing any type of employment. Should graduate programs be a little more concerned about the employability of their graduates? Absolutely, but if you are thinking about going back to school, it's your responsibility to be very critical about the programs you are considering. I know many programs frown upon prospective students asking non scholarly questions such as: how many recent graduates are gainfully employed in the field? But it is your duty to find these things out. There are some very good museum studies programs out there. These are the ones that require internships and have professors that are well connected in the field. I have a master's degree in both biology and museum education. My biology program taught me how to think like a scientist, which has been a very useful skill to have when working in a science museum. My museum education degree had taught me to create and implement appropriate learning experiences for visitors. Both programs had very different goals, the first was far more academically rigorous, but offered me no help in obtaining any type of employment, the second was far more concerned with application of theory, networking, and career advancement. I feel very fortunate to have been able to experience two very different types of programs. But in retrospect I realize I was pretty darn lucky to have found a museum employer that was willing to first hire me with only a master's in biology and no real museum experience. Good luck to all, Rita Mukherjee Hoffstadt *************************** Rita Mukherjee Hoffstadt Exhibit Developer New York Hall of Science 47-01 111th Street Queens, NY 11368 718-699-0005 ext. 373 *************************** ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).