Spotlight on the Profession

Preparing for a Museum Education Career

by Andréa M. Morrill, Associate Educator, Interpretation
Saint Louis Art Museum

“…the most important factor, I think, is a passion for museum work.  I don’t believe any work experience is unrelated to what I did in the museum.  I was an educator, but I also needed to be a salesman to sell our programs, a service provider to work with the public, a mediator as I worked with other departments and institutions, and a researcher as I evaluated programs.  What I loved most about my work was how diverse it was.  Nothing and everything prepares you for that at the same time.” --from a graduate student with four years of museum education experience

I received this comment while preparing a presentation for the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Museums.  As part of a session titled Teaching Museum Teachers: Issues in Undergraduate Preparation of Museum Educators, I was investigating the education and training of professionals currently working in the field.   To explore the various paths that led to these careers, I distributed a questionnaire to the Museum-Ed and Museum-L discussion lists and to my past and present co-workers.  I received responses from 114 educators at art museums, science centers, history museums, children’s museums, botanical gardens, and other institutions. [1]  Their answers demonstrate the variety of experiences that help educators prepare for careers in museums.  The responses also offer some insight into the value of these experiences.

Education and Work Experience

Education is often a significant aspect of career preparation, and all 114 people in this group had at least one undergraduate degree.  The subject areas varied widely, but the most popular was art history, which was listed 24 times.  Other common subjects included history (20), education (18), studio art (14), the natural sciences (14), and anthropology (11).    English (9), museum studies (5), and degrees relating to the communications field (5) were also mentioned.  Many other subjects were recorded: in fact, this group reported degrees in 27 additional areas.  These subjects, which were reported less than 5 times each, included archaeology, women’s studies, theatre, political science, East Asian studies, and classics.   

Only 37% of the educators who completed the questionnaire sought a museum education job immediately after earning their undergraduate degree. [2]  Of those 42 job-seekers, about 52% found some type of museum education work within 3 months, 19% searched for 4–6 months, and 7% looked for 7–12 months.  About 14% reported that they spent over a year searching for their first job while 7% stated that they could not find work.  Approximately 64% of the people who found work received remuneration for their efforts, including those who worked part-time or had paid internships. 

The majority of respondents, about 81%, indicated that they have or are currently pursuing a post-graduate degree.  Subject areas were again varied, though most related directly to museums and/or to education: 21 degrees were in museum education; 19 were in other education fields such as art education, educational leadership, and curriculum and instruction; and 19 were in museum studies or museum science.  Other common degrees included art history (16), history (9), and the natural sciences (6).   The most popular reason for pursuing a post-graduate degree was a personal interest in gaining knowledge (39 responses). [3]   Other reasons included increasing the likelihood of getting a museum job (32 responses) and increasing the likelihood of a promotion (22 responses).

Valuable Opportunities

The questionnaire also focused on the benefits of education and other training experiences. [4]

Since the questionnaire targeted current museum educators, all respondents were likely to share the experience of on-the-job training.[5]   This group found real value in that experience: approximately 38% of them rated it as the most beneficial preparation for their job while 81% included it among their top four preparatory experiences.  To compare on-the-job-training to post-graduate education, one must take into account the total number of respondents who pursued a graduate degree: 92.  Thus 18% of those with a post-graduate degree listed that education as their most beneficial experience.  Post-graduate education seemed more valuable overall, however, with about 85% of this group including it among their top four experiences.  

Undergraduate degrees were less useful for the educators in this group.  All 114 respondents reported having at least one undergraduate degree; however, only 8% of these educators recognized that degree as their most beneficial experience and 58% included it among their top four.  Those statistics may be a by-product of the wide variety of subject areas reported earlier.  Perhaps some subjects do not provide strong training experiences for museum education, though they certainly do not preclude it.   More people chose previous job experience in a related area (such as teacher or artist) over college education for their most beneficial training experience.   Some educators commented that they had “fallen into” museum education; a related job may have been their pathway.   

Looking Ahead

These statistics raise an important question for current students, professors, and museum educators: how can we best prepare the next generation of educators for work in museums?  For most of the people in this survey, an undergraduate education was not the most significant factor in their preparation, though a similar study may yield different results in ten years.  In the Teaching Museum Teachers session at the 2005 Annual Meeting, two professors reported on their museum education programs for undergraduate students. [6]  If these programs continue to expand and to develop at other colleges and universities, future generations of museum educators may have a more focused set of undergraduate experiences. [7]  However, the pursuit of knowledge, the benefits of a post-graduate experience, and a very competitive job market will probably still drive educators to earn post-graduate degrees.  

Based on the high numbers reported here, on-the-job training will remain significant for new professionals.  Current educators and museums can continue to provide this valuable service, whether through entry-level positions, volunteer opportunities, or internships—which may be coordinated with university programs—so new educators can cultivate the skills and habits that will make them effective in a museum setting. [8]    

The results of this survey highlight the different paths that bring people to museum education careers.  Though educational backgrounds and training experiences may always vary, this variety can be an asset.  Staff members who specialized in different academic areas or have a variety of museum experiences and skills often add richness and depth to education programs.  This richness can positively impact the experiences that museums offer their visitors.  

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