I am not making
excuses, because age discrimination is unconscionable, but seeing as how
museum budgets are very, very tight, some hirers might see the resume of an
older, experienced person and assume that the individual will want more money
than the museum is willing or able to pay, resulting in good candidates not
even being interviewed. I have also seen this happen when the museum
will interview many, but will hire a less experienced person with good
potential (which often translates to the applicant being a young person) over
a clearly better-qualified individual because they cannot afford to meet the
salary expectations of the latter. These may be faulty assumptions, but
whose responsibility is it to straighten them out? Should the applicant
indicate that s/he would be willing to take a lower salary just to get the
job? Or should the hirer simply offer the salary to the applicant and
let the applicant decide if it’s right for them? So many factors are in
play.
Whatever the dynamic,
I do not believe that museums consciously think, as some businesses might,
that hiring an older person will not be worth their while in terms of the
amount of time that person will be able to spend on the job. These days
people job-hop all the time, and in fact the younger workers are MORE likely
to do so than older workers. So that argument of preferring a younger
person who will stay with the museum and increase their value to the
organization doesn’t hold water.
Julia Muney
Moore
Public Art
Administrator
Blackburn Architects,
Indianapolis, IN
(317) 875-5500
x230
From:
Museum discussion list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Candace Perry
Sent: Friday, September 01, 2006 9:55
AM
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Discussion
Concerning Potential Age Discrimination in Museum
Hiring
Indigo, I don't know
if this is obvious but is the individual applying for entry-level
positions? Though she had experience, was it some sort of progressively
responsible experience?
Do these same
concerns apply to a long term museum professional seeking to change jobs, or
is it because this individual was seeking what was more or less entry-level
jobs? And should that matter?
Just
ruminating. It certainly is (frightening) food for
thought.
-----Original
Message-----
From:
Museum discussion list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Gayle "Indigo Nights"
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 10:42
PM
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Discussion Concerning
Potential Age Discrimination in Museum Hiring
I'm forwarding this for a member who wishes to
remain anonymous. Please direct all dialgoue to the list unless you
need cover of anonymity, in which case, send your answers to me, and I will
excise your personal info and forward it to the person for whom I am
facilitating this dialogue.
I earned my museum-related graduate degree after
age 50, following an early career in media and years of
volunteer and paid work in small museums, and for AAM and other
organizations--while my children were young.
With over ten years of small museum experience--in every capacity,
a solid degree from a respected university, and a super resume--I've
applied to over 100 museum jobs, got three (seemingly great) interviews
at historic houses--after preparing in all ways--and haven't been hired. The
director at one historic house, who spent the summer interviewing,
told me I was one of the top candidates--but he wasn't hiring
until he found the "perfect" person. Another large history museum
invited me to apply for a special job--then decided to do "something else
with the position" before they announced layoffs and a budget cut.
I applied for a
curator's job at an historic site, for which I was very well
qualified. A few weeks passed, so I followed up with a phone call
to the local government which was administrator for the site. The HR
person on the other end said something close to: "Oh, we held a special
orientation to show the young applicants how to get jobs with us, and
hired someone from that group." Her superior took the call immediately
and tried to find a "way out" of her staffer's obvious error. Then,
while doing research on an object in a world-famous museum, I
overheard a curator discussing a job candidate on the phone: "She's
just too old, but don't you think that (so-and-so) is just right for
the job?" After submitting several unsuccessful
applications for state and federal jobs, I refused to enter my date of
birth or date of high school graduation, realizing how that information
could be used as a pre-filter for age. When I complained to
government EEO officials, they agreed with my assertion! In casual
conversations, colleagues in the field have intimated
that "over forty" is the hiring limit. Museum heads have told
me that they preferred to hire young grads because they're so
eager, malleable, and flexible. One important museum research
division, that has over a dozen college interns, hires from that
group alone.
Queries to former instructors and advisors in
my grad program--as to why I wasn't getting a job after working so
hard for my expensive degree--were met with: "get into a PhD program," "to
be honest, I always depended on my husband's income," "you should be
satisfied with having learned so much," and, my favorite: "I have an
inheritance and never had to worry." Meanwhile, several of my fellow
grads have been working pro
bono or moving from one internship to another. I
barely survive by adjunct teaching and consulting, and I continue to take
museum-related courses in anticipation of my next job. I would
love to publish, but resumes and cover letters consume all of my
writing time!
I have a huge
amount of knowledge to share with museum colleagues--from both extensive
experience and from recent studies enriched by a mature and discerning
intellect. I have a natural "blind spot" for who's a "Boomer" or
"X-er," or anyone else, and my students--of every age and persuasion--know
how very important they are to me, just as my volunteers and docents
knew that in the context of the museum environment. Then, there's
practical wisdom to add. . .and I have lived long enough to be
generous. None of this seems to be of value in the hiring process: isn't
that a shame?
I know that I am not
alone. Reduced budgets have seen numbers of talented museum
pros "cut from the herd" just when they had the most to offer. On the
other hand, others in the field are holding on for dear life, even after
they thought they would retire. Is this a problem that deserves
discussion?
Are there too many
museum-related degree programs? (I just heard that my program has
accepted over sixty students.)
Are the
colleges levelling with prospective students about what may
be ahead for them? (This is especially true for older,
non-traditional students who are financially important for some
programs, since they are better able to afford steep tuitions and less
likely to require scholarship aid. . .)
Should we care that
degrees are so expensive even when paying jobs are considered irrelevant?
Would the AAM support
a conference session on "age discrimination in the
museum"?
(Even if you
are 25 and feeling both immortal and omnipotent, one day--it
will be different for you. The world that you make today is the one that you
will live in tomorrow.)
Indigo Nights
Indigo[log in to unmask]
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