What's Missing From "7 Factors That Drive Museum Wages Down"?

7 Factors That Drive Museum Wages Down. Written by Michael Holland, it was wonderful to see such an important topic addressed by a forum like Alliance Labs since by inference it carries AAM's blessing. But that was before we read the article. In our opinion, Holland skipped a few key points. And judging from some of the 20-plus comments, one of which was ours, we weren't alone. So here's our response: 1: Gender inequity and the pay gap failed to make Holland's list. In some ways this isn't a surprise. Michael Holland is male, and by his own admission, he frequently works for large, well-endowed museums so maybe he hasn't encountered the gender pay gap? Maybe he doesn't know that many women doing work similar to his (exhibit design)--not to mention the traditionally female bastions of museum education or event planning-- will not make as much as he did in 2017 until April 10 of this year? Maybe he doesn't understand that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the museum field is 46.7-percent female, and that when a field slips down the pink collar slope it's not a good thing? 2. While Holland lists the "Spousal Income Subsidy" as a way the field depends on hiring people who bring along a second income, he never explores what that means. Whether it's an employee with a hedge fund spouse or an employee with a trust fund, the need for a second income frequently acts as a class and race barrier. Is it any wonder the museum workforce has a diversity problem?  3. He addressed the question of a burgeoning number of museum studies programs, offering both undergraduate and graduate training, and the resulting glut of too many inexperienced candidates desperate for employment, but he doesn't mention these programs are costly, and that many emerging professionals begin their working careers with educational debt that's the equivalent of a mortgage. And yet we work in a field that tells people if you don't have a master's degree, you can't come to the party. 4. This is a corollary to #3. Holland makes passing reference to unpaid internships. (It appears he's not a fan.) But he never addresses the damage done by an expensive graduate school education, followed by a series of unpaid or poorly paid internships, meaning that someone could be "in the field" for four years or so before finding a salaried position. And that's if they're lucky. Don't get us wrong. We're glad Holland wrote his article, glad to see it published by Alliance Labs, and glad to see it debated and questioned in the Comments. Sometimes it's depressing being the broken record yammering about gender, pay equity, poor pay, and lousy leadership every week. So--in the tradition of Leadership Matters--where we believe we can all make change, here are some things that might help the museum salary crisis. For individuals, and women especially: Don't take a job without negotiating. Use the GEMM (Gender Equity in Museums) 5 Things You Need to Know About Salary Negotiations tip sheet. And for goodness sake look at MIT's Living Wage Calculator to make sure you can afford to live (really live) on what you're being offered. If you're already working in a position you enjoy, when your annual review rolls around, don't forget to ask for a raise. Again, there's a 5 Things Tip Sheet for that. For organizations and directors: Work with your board to make sure it understands the value of your museum's human resources. People matter. Make sure you and your board know what it costs to live in your community. Make sure the board understands the cost of a churning staff, the time it takes new staff to get up to speed, the resulting loss of institutional momentum and organizational knowledge when someone leaves, and the damage done when a team is disrupted. Solve your wage equity problem first. Do men at your organization make more than women? Do white women make more than women of color? If you're faced with the you-can't-get-blood-from-a-stone argument, make an effort to put all the other pieces in place to support staff--HR support, equitable benefits, paid time off, maternity/paternity leave, even housing if that's available. When was the last time you reviewed your personnel policy? Make sure new applicants know the work you've done around wages and benefits. For regional and national museum service organizations: Isn't it time for a wage summit that would bring together big thinkers from inside and outside the field to tackle this problem? Joan Baldwin