I come down on Bayla's side of this discussion too. To put
the obverse case of saying that the people I admire in this
profession, I admire irrespective of educational background:
The truly foul people I've met in this profession (and they
are remarkably few) are evenly spread among content mavens,
administration mavens, and generalists.
Inquiring minds, narrow and deep content people, bean
counters, salespeople, whatever they are, the same standards
apply: Are they open and honest, are they generous with
their colleagues, are they convivial and hardworking, are
they good collaborators and active learners? These are the
criteria for a successful museum person, in my experience
and estimation, and people with these qualities come from
all sorts of educational backgrounds.
On the other hand, to "break into" this business that I feel
so priveleged already to be in, I needed an MBA. No one
would have looked at me with my undergraduate liberal arts
degree, and I don't know that I would have been any more
successful with a graduate liberal arts degree.
I empathize with those currently trying to figure out which
educational program will best suit them for museum work. I
will only reiterate what has been said over and over again,
whatever degree you pursue, please make sure that you get as
much experience in a museum as possible. As a volunteer,
intern, entry level, part time clerical person, gofer,
whatever. That is the qualification that I would be looking
for (plus references from people in the field), if I were
hiring.
Eric Siegel
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