Apparently my experience is not the norm, but I thought I'd comment. 
At the museum I have been a volunteer at for two years the Director,
VP of Collections and Exhibits, VP of Education and Programs, and my
mentor the Collections Manager are all women.  At the museum I
currently work at the Director and Curator are women.  The Director of
the Public History program at the university I received my B.A. in
History from is a woman.  All of these women I have found to be strong
leaders very dedicated to the mission of their institutions and the
world of museums.  I know that there are also wonderful and talented
men in this industry, but I wanted you to know that, at least in my
experience, women are making a significant contribution to the
decisions and education of museum work.  Not that it matters, but I am
also a woman.

Lee


On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 03:16:58 -0500, Shyra <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Thank you all for your comments. It is definitely helpful to hear what
> others think of this subject as it is relatively new to me. In my
> opinion--based on my limited experience--there appears to be a shortage of
> women in top positions in museums. Not limited to museums, women are rarely
> seen in management positions and dominate in education fields. This
> imbalance is confusing and upsetting. Since women make up a majority of
> museum professionals and audiences do they not deserve the opportunity to
> share in the decision making in all capacities?? Art museums are especially
> interesting as statistics show a significantly higher percentage of American
> women compared to men are graduating with degrees in art, art ed, art admin
> (and museum studies for that matter) so....? As I've said, it's all new to
> me, so feel free to keep the comments coming...I have recieved some great
> article suggestions also. Thank you!
> 
> Shyra
> [log in to unmask]
> 
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