Dear All,
Further to Vicky's posting yesterday, I wonder if we (as
professionals) should do more to support our para-professional staff
who often work on very low salaries and if so how we would address
it? Archive assistants in particular are often educated to degree
level (I know of one or two with postgraduate qualifications) and,
over time, develop many of the skills professional staff have. In
many ways they are the backbone of archive services - we certainly
couldn't manage without them!
Some will, of course, go on to train as archivists and maybe a low
salary isn't too bad if you expect to go on to the dizzy heights of a
professional wage in due course. Many, however, will remain in low
paid posts with no progression or career development - is this
inevitable? A few people have indicated that the low salaries for
unqualified posts act as a barrier to people wishing to obtain pre-
course experience and this must be especially acute with rising
levels of student debt. For the record, the Society of Archivists
does not set a minimum wage for unqualified posts and only a minority
of these posts are advertised in the professional press anyway. Many,
of course, only being advertised locally.
I'd be interested to hear views on whether we should try to address
this issue or even whether we regard it as an issue. If nothing else
we could perhaps have para-professional appreciation day.
Jenny
Jenny Moran
(posting in a personal capacity, not as SoA Secretary)
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