And so, if low wages paid to museum workers result from our willingness
to accept them, and we don't get sufficient raises because we are nervous
about asking for them, then how do we break this cycle?

In the thread about unpaid internships, almost the same point was made:
despite the fact that internships SHOULD be paid, there will always be
willing people to take these things for free.  Why should I hold out for
a larger salary at my next job if there is a ton of people behind me
willing to take less?

This seems like an issue about which we should all pull together, or no
one wins.  How, precisely, do we do that?  Does anyone have an idea?

Claudia Nicholson
Curator of Collections
South Dakota State Historical Society
Pierre, SD

[log in to unmask]

In article <[log in to unmask]>, Silver City Museum
<[log in to unmask]> says:
>
>On July 31, 1996, Sally Stanton said:
>
>>Museum professionals are underpaid and undervalued because what they do
>>is perceived as "soft", "nonessential", "nonprofit", "educational", and
>>that means "not all that important", in a society where the dollar is
>>almighty. Despite the fact that many women make more money than their
>>husbands, despite the fact that many women support families without any
>>help from a male breadwinner, despite the fact that most women now work
>>for a majority of their lives, Americans subconsciously cling to the
>>mystical ideal of the nuclear family and the male breadwinner.
>>Until this changes, the arts and humanities will continue to take second
>>place; museums will take a backseat to baseball stadiums, and museum
>>professionals will be paid ridiculously low salaries (just as teachers
>>were and in many cases still are) for work which pays well in other
>>institutions.
>
>Is it really an evil plot by a male dominated society to ensure the
>continued oppression of women & children under their dubious superiority,
>bound by the chains of traditional social roles?  I don't think so.
>
>Look at the gradual feminization of clerical work following the Civil War.
>Like most museum work and other educational roles, it is generally dependent
>on intellectual more than physical ability.  A traditionally male field
>until the war, workforce shortages allowed women to step in to clerical
>work, as an expanding economy opened more and new postitions to the men they
>displaced.  Facility in the field was explained by the patience & attention
>to detail that is "natural" to women.  While natural ability of individuals
>played a part in it, a stronger motivation for hiring women was & is their
>WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT LOWER WAGES.
>
>Similarly, the world of professional & semi-professional museum workers was
>dominated by males until recently, and, with exceptions, men still dominate
>the higher paying positions (not because they are men, but because the
>positions often require a higher level of education, and women are still
>playing catch up in the number of Phd's being earned).  The boom in museum
>growth has also created a boom in entry level positions and positions in
>institutions which do not require educational degrees (even if they really
>should), with commensurate salaries.  Women stepped in & started to
>numerically dominate the field.
>
>Having started at low wages, even a small increase in pay looks huge
>(believe me, I've been there).  Unaware or unmindful of the value of their
>skills in the general workforce, staff, male or female, may be reluctant to
>ask for more, preferring a job they love to a new car or a better house.  In
>turn, why should museums offer more when their is such a large workforce
>willing to work at low wages.  Those who cannot afford to make the trade off
>either leave the field or never enter it.  Like it or not, fair or unfair,
>women tend to stay.
>
>A balance of ethics vs. economics is a better explanation for generally low
>but gradualy rising wages found in the museum world.  The growing female
>presence (real and perceived) in the field is a symptom, which may be
>related to social roles, etc., but it is not the cause of low wages.
>
>Margaret Lyman
>Curator of Collections
>Silver City Museum
>SCMuseum@zianet