Oh yes, please share!
Roberta Adams
Director of Education and Public Programs
Delaware Art Museum
2301 Kentmere Parkway
Wilmington, DE 19896
[log in to unmask]
www.delart.org
302-571-9590 ext 549
Fax 302-571-0220
>>> Chuck Stout <[log in to unmask]> Tuesday, June 20, 2000 1:13:41 PM >>>
I'm enjoying all the various views expressed in this thread, and here's another 1.5 cents worth.
I had this kind of conversation with my wife several years ago. She's a psychotherapist. Her first job out of grad school paid something like $18K a year.
When I asked why people with great attitude, extensive training, high responsibility (in her case, often life-and-death responsibilities) and a higher education were paid so little, she gave the same list of excuses: It's a desire to serve, it's a passion thing, people don't do this for the money, the non-profit world is different, the field is traditionally low paying, we don't have the power to change the system, etc.
We applied some cortical exercise to the problem and came up with some questions. Why do airline pilots make as much as $200K a year doing a job that is highly satisfying, that they're generally passionate about, and that has huge supply and minuscule demand (usually about a thousand applicants for each opening)? To be fair, most professional pilots spend decades working their way up an incredibly difficult and poorly-paid career ladder before they earn those six-figure salaries--but they prove it can be done.
Why was I able to make a reasonable, competitive wage at a non-profit hospital, along with all the doctors, therapists, nurses, aides, and non-clinical staff?
Then I asked her if there were ANY psychotherapists who made decent livings, or who actually got wealthy doing psychotherapy. She rattled off a half dozen people she knew personally who were doing quite well by any standards.
One by one, we burst each myth. If airline pilots can command astronomical salaries when there are a thousand ready to take their jobs, why not psychotherapists, or museum professionals? How can some non-profits afford to pay fairly? If even a few people in a profession can succeed financially, what's their secret? If doing good in the world or being passionate about your work means sacrificing a decent standard of living, how come there are so many people who manage to circumvent that rule?
Several things came out of our research and discussions. If people are interested, I'll be glad to share them with the list, but this post is already getting too long.
Chuck Stout
Exhibits Design and Development
Denver Museum of Natural History
303-370-8364
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