Open Forum

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Hi Jana,

Did you hear about the salary transparency spreadsheet that circulated last spring?  There's an ArtNews article that links to the spreadsheet along with some other discussion points that are a good place to start. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/google-spreadsheet-museum-workers-disclose-salaries-12670/

Also the National Emerging Museum Professionals Network is doing something similar for their "Salary Transparency Alert" and a letter writing campaign which I've linked here.  
https://nationalempnetwork.org/salary-range-on-museum-job-postings-letter-writing-campaign/ 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdub8VzoMgH4yHGwXYyy4ngqfXI_rLvkMw3fGGInxLp76CrWw/viewform

It's just a place to start but I hope these helped!
-Dylan



Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Jana:

While I can't offer any articles to cite, you could note that any job posting on the ICOM Listserv (Museum-L) that does NOT include salary or salary range information invariably provokes immediate comments and complaints about the absence of that vital information, usually ending with the observation that the poster is unlikely to obtain much if any response from experienced candidates.

------------------------------
John E. Coraor
Cultural Management Partners LLC
Huntington, NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

This blogger is looking at nonprofits in general but makes really good points (and is funny to boot) https://nonprofitaf.com/2015/06/when-you-dont-disclose-salary-range-on-a-job-posting-a-unicorn-loses-its-wings/

At our museum we have started posting salary ranges for nearly all jobs (I am not 100% certain we get it in every time, but we are trying).

------------------------------
Amanda Kepner
Senior Manager for Institutional Processes
Columbus Museum of Art
Columbus OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Good morning, Jana.
One thing that posting salary ranges does is save money. Job searches, even for hourly positions, cost money and time, and wasting both on someone who either can't or won't work for the salary you're willing to offer squanders time. In addition, since women, but especially women of color, deal daily with the gender pay gap, knowing the salary (or range) in advance implies something cultural about the institution: That it's thought about questions of equity; that it's not going to ask for a woman's previous salary as an indicator of how really low it can go. It's a subject I tackle with some regularity on Leadership Matters. Here is a post you may want to read: The Salary Agenda.

Joan Baldwin

------------------------------
Joan Baldwin
Curator-Special Collections - The Hotchkiss School
Lakeville CT
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Hello Jana,

Thank you for posting your question to Museum Junction. AAM has a  few resources on this topic:

• Our page on Equitable Hiring Practices is something you might find useful in making your argument. The page states, "There are a number of good reasons to explicitly list a salary or salary ranges for position openings. Chief among them: listing salaries makes better use of your time, and that of applicants, by letting people filter for jobs that meet their financial need, and helps reduce gender and racial discrimination in salary negotiations."
• Our Director of Human Relations also wrote an interesting blog post on "10 Things We've Learned About Unbiased Hiring Practices at AAM."

AAM strongly encourages employers to adopt some or all of the practices listed in these resources to promote diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in their museums.

Good luck!

Cecelia

------------------------------
Cecelia Walls
Content and Editorial Strategist
American Alliance of Museums
Arlington VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Hi Jana,

I can't remember if it's the Colorado-Wyoming Association of Museum or another museum org for that part of the country, but I remember reading about a regional museum organization that decided to not post jobs on their listings if it does not include a salary range. If more organizations start to do this, job postings will have a much shorter reach. Sorry I can't be more specific, but I hope it helps! 

-Jessica

------------------------------
Jessica Lubniewski
Collections Assistant
Denver Art Museum
Denver CO
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Yep, it was CWAM. From their website: 

Would you like to post a job opening to the CWAM website?

Include the job title, city, state and the application deadline. Effective March 23, 2019, CWAM requires that any jobs posted to the CWAM website include the annual salary or hourly wage range. Internships must state whether it is paid or unpaid in the posting.

------------------------------
Jessica Lubniewski
Collections Assistant
Denver Art Museum
Denver CO
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-14-2020 10:45 AM
From: Jessica Lubniewski
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi Jana,

I can't remember if it's the Colorado-Wyoming Association of Museum or another museum org for that part of the country, but I remember reading about a regional museum organization that decided to not post jobs on their listings if it does not include a salary range. If more organizations start to do this, job postings will have a much shorter reach. Sorry I can't be more specific, but I hope it helps!

-Jessica

------------------------------
Jessica Lubniewski
Collections Assistant
Denver Art Museum
Denver CO

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Our local professional organization for Museum Education requires salary ranges to be included in order to post things with them. I love that. My main argument for it is that it saves everybody time. In our industry title is not consistent across institutions because of the variance of institutional size, so there is no way of guessing from that. The budget will not magically grow, so why give up your time, your colleagues' time, and cost the candidate their time for 2 or even three interviews just to find out they expect/need way more than you can offer? 
Better to have it clear upfront. 
Lynda

------------------------------
Lynda Kennedy PhD
VP Education & Evaluation
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum
New York NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Hi Jana,

It looks like AASLH, the Small Museums Association, the Association of Midwest Museums, and the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums all explicitly state that they require salary information in their job postings. AASLH will remove postings that do not include this information. So if they want to post the job to any of those job boards, they'll have to include that information anyway, so why not just be upfront from the get-go about, right? What would really be great is if AAM also made the same commitment. 

If you're up for it, I'm sure you could go back and reference the numerous museum conference sessions that have discussed this very issue. It might be useful to point to the fact that these discussions are happening on a local, regional, and national level. 

Good luck!

Mackensie

------------------------------
Mackensie Hotz
Registrar
Washington State History Museum - Historical Society
Tacoma WA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

The Museum Association of Arizona will not post jobs on its website that do not include a salary range.    Vu Le's blog (referenced elsewhere) makes a very strong argument for this position.   Even stronger, however, was the response of the head of HR of one of our larger museums.   When asked when his museum would not include salary ranges, he responded that he, personally, was in favor of it, but his director said it would adversely affect employee morale (i.e., if they knew that new hires might be getting more money than those already employed).    Why not ask your director why he doesn't want to include salary ranges; I doubt he has a much better answer.
(And when will AAM adopt the requirement for salary ranges?)

------------------------------
Janice Klein


Tempe AZ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-14-2020 12:01 PM
From: Mackensie Hotz
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi Jana,

It looks like AASLH, the Small Museums Association, the Association of Midwest Museums, and the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums all explicitly state that they require salary information in their job postings. AASLH will remove postings that do not include this information. So if they want to post the job to any of those job boards, they'll have to include that information anyway, so why not just be upfront from the get-go about, right? What would really be great is if AAM also made the same commitment.

If you're up for it, I'm sure you could go back and reference the numerous museum conference sessions that have discussed this very issue. It might be useful to point to the fact that these discussions are happening on a local, regional, and national level.

Good luck!

Mackensie

------------------------------
Mackensie Hotz
Registrar
Washington State History Museum - Historical Society
Tacoma WA

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Original Message------

The Museum Association of Arizona will not post jobs on its website that do not include a salary range.    Vu Le's blog (referenced elsewhere) makes a very strong argument for this position.   Even stronger, however, was the response of the head of HR of one of our larger museums.   When asked when his museum would not include salary ranges, he responded that he, personally, was in favor of it, but his director said it would adversely affect employee morale (i.e., if they knew that new hires might be getting more money than those already employed).    Why not ask your director why he doesn't want to include salary ranges; I doubt he has a much better answer.
(And when will AAM adopt the requirement for salary ranges?)

------------------------------
Janice Klein


Tempe AZ
------------------------------

Hi, Jana -

Thanks for taking up this important issue within your organization.  Many of us have been advocating for this issue, and I think it's finally beginning to gain some traction, although may jobs are still listed without this crucial data.  (I even recently saw a museum director position listed without a salary!)  I'm the current president of a professional association whose membership works largely in museums and universities, and I'm promoting a policy stance that we will not list jobs on any of our media if they do not include salary info.  We're a small niche, but we can do our part! 

Many here have already mentioned some of the important reasons why salary info should be disclosed in job listings (time/efficiency savings, pay equity, not perpetuating the gender gap, diversity, etc.).  All of these issues are real and important. 

I think that another way to make this case is to flip the question and ask "Why would our institution want to not include salary info in our job offerings?" 

An honest examination of that question is likely to be clarifying, because there are reasons for salary cloaking, and none of them are good for employees.

Do we not want to list the salary because it's so low that disclosing it would be embarrassing or potentially harmful to the reputation of the hiring institution? 

Do we not want to list the salary because it's not competitive with that of similar positions having similar educational requirements or qualifications within the same niche/market?

Do we not want to list the salary because it excludes applicants who don't have secondary or spousal income that will enable them to live where the job is?

Do we not want to list the salary because it would upset existing employees if they learn how much the newly hired employee will be paid?

If any of these are the reasons why an institution prefers to keep salary info opaque in job listings/descriptions, then it might be time for some deeper examination to see if hiring and compensation reflect the values and mission of the institution. 

Thanks for bringing this issue to your table!

               Michael

P.S. - Be sure to read Vu's article (recommended here by Amanda Kepner) - it's spot on!

------------------------------
Michael Holland
Principal/Owner
Michael Holland Productions

Redmond, WA USA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana

Hi Jana,

There's great information on the need for salary transparency included in For Love or Money: https://museumsetc.com/products/for-love-of-money-confronting-the-state-of-museum-salaries. The writers represent a broad swath of the field across different museum disciplines. Many of the chapters include recent data that will support your position.

Good luck in your advocacy!
Kristina Durocher


Full disclosure: I co-edited the book.

------------------------------
Kristina Durocher
Director
Museum of Art - University of New Hampshire
Durham NH
kristina.durocher@unh.edu
(603) 862-1996
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-13-2020 09:38 AM
From: Jana Greenslit
Subject: Transparency in job salaries when posting new positions

Hi all,

I'm trying to make the argument at my institution that it's important to include salaries/salary ranges in job postings. Does anyone have any resources/articles/blog posts arguing this point from the museum field that I can compile to demonstrate that this is a field-wide issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jana