CALL FOR PAPERS: FOR LOVE OR MONEY - THE STATE OF MUSEUM SALARIES
Edited by Dawn A Salerno, Mark S Gold and Kristina Durocher
We invite international submissions for our forthcoming book, For Love or Money: The State of Museum Salaries, which we'll be publishing next year (2019). Proposals should be submitted by Monday 17 December 2018. Please feel free to forward this information to colleagues who may have a special interest in this important subject.
The museum profession suffers from systemic under-compensation and pay inequality. This book will examine both the causes of this situation and its resulting effect on staff, institutions, and the profession. It will also propose strategies for remedying the problem. It will:
* identify internal and external factors that suppress wages;
* consider the impact of the present practices and paradigms on the field as a whole;
* articulate the benefits that fair and equitable compensation would achieve;
* develop solutions to address wage inequity with the goal of strengthening our institutions, allowing committed museum staff to advance in careers that are financially and personally rewarding.
Many museum professionals feel under-appreciated, some to the point of leaving for positions outside of museums. The employers, led ultimately by museum boards or local government entities, are faced with the challenge of balancing a budget and, as a solution, often relegate staff salaries and salary increases to the lowest priority. The result is a field in which salaries for highly qualified people remain low, staff size is as lean as it can be to sustain basic services, and employees are asked to do more for less, leading to high rates of staff turnover and impairment of the ability to realise important goals of diversity.
Staff departures and turnover cost museums in productivity, quality and morale. Yet the prioritisation of investment in the museum visitor, by way of quality museum programs and capital projects, is rarely questioned. But what if, in this environment of low salaries and high staff turnover, the quality of the museum experience was at risk, causing a downward spiral in attendance and revenue? The benefits of employee longevity, loyalty, and productivity are lost, and the goal of diversity becomes harder to achieve.
SUBMISSIONS
This publication will consist of essays which explore these issues by bringing together research, analysis, case studies, commentary, and advocacy from a range of perspectives. We particularly welcome submissions based on practical experience (successful or otherwise) of initiatives and plans to address salary and wage inequality issues.
SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL
If you are interested in being considered as a contributor, please submit a proposal and a short biography (in Microsoft Word format). Proposals should be 500-700 words in length and biographies 100-300 words. Please include a working title for your proposed chapter.
You can propose to submit a chapter, a case study, or a thought or advocacy piece. Chapters will be 4000-6000 words in length. Case studies will be 1000-2000 words. Thought or advocacy pieces will be 1000-3000 words. The inclusion of images is encouraged. Please prepare your proposal with these parameters in mind. The work should not have been published elsewhere. All contributions must be submitted in English - translation services will not be provided.
The deadline for proposals is 17 December 2018. Please email your proposal to both the editors [
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For Love or Money: The State of Museum Salaries will be published by MuseumsEtc in print and digital editions. Contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the publication and a discount on more.
KEY DATES
PROPOSALS DUE: 17 DECEMBER 2018
CONTRIBUTORS NOTIFIED: 21 JANUARY 2019
COMPLETED PAPERS DUE: 12 APRIL 2019
Graeme Farnell
Publisher, MuseumsEtc
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UK: Hudson House | 8 Albany Street | Edinburgh EH1 3QB
USA: 675 Massachusetts Ave., Ste 11 | Cambridge | MA 02139
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