The perception that women are in the vast majority in museum professional
employment is, I am sure (from observation at AAM if nothing else), true.
The related assumption that men are in this position due to discrimination
against them is, from my own experience, false.  Every year, I look at the
hiring experience of the graduates of our museum studies programs.  I have
consistently found that, when two graduates have equally strong credentials,
the male applicant will be offered the job first, the female only after the
man has turned it down, and (where I am aware of the details) the male
applicant has often been offered the job initially at a higher salary than
is then offered to the female applicant.

Jane Bedno
Co-chair, Museum Studies, The University of the Arts


on 11/20/02 10:43 AM, Jay Heuman at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Hello Museum-Lers,
>
> As a "White (non-Hispanic) Male" - sometimes "Caucasian" - I perceive
> that I am in the minority when it comes to museum employment.  In
> reviewing the staff web pages on several museum web sites, I see the
> ratio of women to men goes from equal - 1 to 1 - to very unequal - 4 to
> 1, in one case 6 to 1.  (I can't tell about other E.O.E.
> classifications.)
>
> So, my questions:
>
> Is this a false perception?
> Am I missing something in the bigger picture?
> Are men a minority in museum work?
> If men are in a minority, what do you believe contributes to this?
>
> Truly, I'm not looking to initiate a new round in the "blame game"; I'm
> just trying to figure out how to find a job where I can use the
> education and experience I have so far managed to acquire.
>
> Sincerely,
> Jay Heuman

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