AIC's 42nd Annual Meeting

This presentation will extend the discussion of sustainability to our own practices and educational models. Several topics warrant investigation followed by recommendations for change.

Examples:

• The nine members of ANAGPIC, the organization of graduate conservation education programs, graduate approximately fifty students per year. Since entry-level permanent full-time museum jobs are exceedingly scarce, many graduates are going into private practice even though they are ill-prepared, and some have difficulty making a living doing it.
• Women students in many programs are 90% or more of the student body, and the AIC membership is about two thirds women.
• Most of the conservation programs provide complete financial support to all students, regardless of need. Some have already indicated this may not be possible in the near future.
• Students applying to the programs are “encouraged” to do pre-program internships (unpaid) before applying. These internships are often extended over two or even three years.
• The field of conservation has undergone remarkable changes in the past few decades, with greater emphasis on matters other than treatments. Yet the training programs still concentrate on treatments rather than issues such as preventive conservation, environmental control, disaster recovery, and sustainability.

Some questions:

• Can the profession continue along its current paths and still attract top-notch applicants?
• What happens to students who apply repeatedly for training but do not get accepted?
• Will graduates be able to find positions that provide them with reasonable financial return?
• Will the programs be able to maintain their financial support, regardless of need? Should they?
• Are graduates prepared for real-world jobs? Do the programs put too much emphasis on bench-work and not enough on the many other activities conservators now undertake?
• What percentage of AIC members are graduates of programs, and has the percentage increased?
• Why is the student population preponderantly female? What are the consequences of feminization of the field?

It is time for us to take a critical look at how we educate conservators and how current cultural and financial trends affect our profession.