This or That: Grad School Decisions: Perspectives from NEMPN Board Members

By: Jessica Meis

Choosing whether, when, and where to go to grad school is a big question on a lot of emerging museum professionals minds. The field is constantly evolving and the debate of education vs. experience persists throughout the industry. 

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone! So many museum professionals at all levels think carefully about their careers and how to build up an attractive resume in the increasingly competitive job market. Will grad school make you stand out? Is the student loan debt worth it in a field that continues to struggle with fair compensations? 

In this article, members of the NEMPN board share their experience and perspectives to provide insight to the EMP community about this important professional decision.

• How did you get into museum work? Was it something you always knew you wanted to do?

  (Dana Congelosi) I got interested in museums in high school because I loved history, but didn't think I was interested in teaching. I always loved visiting museums as a kid, and once I realized it was a potential career path, I decided it was what I wanted to pursue. 

  (Jessica Meis) I’ve wanted to work in museums for as long as I can remember. I took an AP Art History class that I loved in high school, and saw the movie “When in Rome,” starring Kristen Bell as an art curator at the Guggenheim and I was like, that sounds like an awesome job. I had an appreciation for art and culture and wanted to make museums accessible for the general public, so that motivation pushed me to my higher education choices.

  (Melissa Pankuch-Hernandez) I wanted to be an Egyptologist since I was 5 years old and fell in love with the Field Museum in Chicago. I always knew I would be in historical work in some capacity, but never knew how that would really manifest. I remember the minute I found out art history was a degree I thought "Oh THAT is what I will be doing with my life."  

  (Perry Raymond) I was initially planning on pursuing International Relations but as part of my degree I took a course on Critical Heritage Studies and loved it. That led me to museum work. 

• Why did you choose to go to Grad school?

  (DC) I knew I wanted to go to grad school because I wasn't ready to be done in academia. I chose a museum studies program because I wasn't sure what I'd want to specialize in if I kept pursuing either of my undergrad majors (history and anthropology). I also wasn't super tied to the idea of being a curator or working in any specific kind of museum, so I figured a Museum Studies degree would prepare me more broadly. 

  (JM) Out of undergrad, I struggled to find a job in museums in the Chicagoland area. I had an awesome job that let me do community work, but despite my un-paid internship experience in Iowa, I had trouble getting noticed in Illinois. Grad school seemed like a good next step and in 2021 as the world was still navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, seemed like a good time. My full time work at the time was also encouraging and worked with my schedule to make it possible to pursue.

  (MP-H) I went to grad school because first and foremost... I liked school! I loved (and still do) love learning about new times in history and art movements. It was closer to the end of my undergrad program when I realized I was more passionate about museum work than egyptology specifically, so I wanted to be sure I had an educational background that let me explore museum culture more.  

  (PR)  I had some informational interviews with professors and local museum folk who encouraged me to go to graduate school but I didn't have any museum experience of my own yet. I knew I wanted to gain first-hand, intensive experience and a Masters degree could offer that.

  (Margaret Sheble) The question of “Do you want to only work in a museum for the rest of your life?” at age 20 felt almost existential. That uncertainty is ultimately why I didn’t pursue a graduate degree specifically in museum studies. At the time, I received advice that was essentially this: don’t commit to a museum studies graduate program unless you are absolutely certain museums are the only thing you want to do.

  I completed my BA in art history with a minor in history and museum studies at Northern Arizona University in 2013, and it was during that time that I first experienced what museum work actually feels like in practice. I worked on exhibitions I genuinely loved, including a class project that blurred the line between tourist objects and museum artifacts to challenge how visitors understand what a “museum object” is—so successfully that visitors often asked if the “real” works were for sale while overlooking the tourist items we placed under glass. I also curated an exhibition on the Berlin Wall, which I believe is still on display at the university, and later developed a smaller community exhibit after receiving a grant.

  The advice given to me at the time felt too restrictive. The idea of committing so narrowly to one professional identity was intimidating, so I chose a different route. I went on to pursue English literature and eventually earned a PhD in the field after being told English was more "versatile." My thoughts on that would need to be its own separate post. 

  And yet, I never fully left museums behind.

  Throughout graduate school, I continued working in archives, completing museum internships, working at museums part-time, and taking on roles that kept me closely connected to various cultural institutions. I also stepped outside the museum world, taking on work in teaching, publishing, and even spending time in admin roles for study abroad programs.

  Today in my museum career, I find that my experiences are both an asset and a challenge. For instance, not having a dedicated museum studies degree has sometimes made networking more difficult. While I certainly had colleagues, I didn’t have a cohort—it took me longer to figure out which conferences to attend, which associations to join, and who to connect with professionally. I also hear of folks on the job market who are able to get positions based on who their professor was. 

  On the other hand, my broader academic path has also opened doors and had me experience things I don’t think I would have otherwise.

• What were some key elements of your grad school search?

  (DC)  I graduated from college at the beginning of the pandemic. I was originally going to take a gap year to apply for grad school, but with nothing to do I accelerated my timeline. No one knew how long schools would be virtual, and I didn't want to wait to start. Those ended up being two of the biggest deciding factors in the program I chose. First, after finishing a semester on Zoom with everyone scrambling to figure out how to adapt, I was drawn to a program that was always virtual because I figured they'd know what they were doing with the new normal. I also didn't want to wait to start, and the program I ended up in had rolling admissions. Beyond those two very circumstantial things, I was looking for a program that had nonprofit management coursework available and also one which allowed for flexibility. So many programs make you choose a specialization (education, curating, leadership, etc), which seemed like a drawback knowing how versatile you often have to be to succeed in this field.  

  (JM) I knew I wanted to geographically settle in the Chicagoland area, so I wanted to go to a program in the region that could provide me connections to the field. I also wanted a chance to get hands-on experience AND be able to work around a class schedule. There was also the reality that the museum field was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. I knew I was going into a tricky, competitive job market so I wanted to come out of a graduate program with adaptable skills I could use in any type of non-profit work. 

  (MP-H) I specifically looked for programs in NYC because of the strong art world/museum presence and the variety of art institutions there. I also looked for something that had a flexible schedule (I worked as a gallery attendant and Carnegie Hall usher alongside classes and internships), and I wanted instructors that really connected with their students.  

  (PR) Gaining first-hand experience became my top priority for my search. I found the MA in Museum Studies program at University College London (UCL), which offered a student-led exhibition program that taught collections, curation, marketing, and fabrication.

• What did you like most about your program?

  (DC) The fact that it was part-time and online (asynchronous) meant that I had a lot of flexibility. I even moved across the country partway through the program with zero issues. I really appreciated the flexibility built into the overall structure of the program and how I was able to sort of create my own specialization through the coursework I chose (focusing on education, evaluation, accessibility, nonprofit management, public history).  

  (JM) I ended up pursing a Master of Arts Management at Columbia College Chicago and I LOVED the program. The faculty were super supportive of working students and had a fun, creative vibe that felt innovative and adaptable to all different types of careers within the arts and culture field. My class cohort had performing artists, music producers, theatre managers, and visual artists and it was wonderful to learn about all different aspects of the arts while gaining new skills and experiences. The MAM program is rooted in practicum courses where students lead different projects, so while at Columbia I learned how to manage an art gallery, created exhibitions, ran a fundraising gala, and worked with sponsors at the SXSW festival. 

  (MP-H) My program was an Art History-Museum Studies program, and I really appreciated the balance of the scholarly side with real-world applications. My program really emphasized internships, and it was great to be working in the field while learning in the classroom.  

  (PR) My program at UCL gave students work placements in some of London’s coolest museums and heritage spaces.

  (MS) Largely, my decision was based on word of mouth. I got a MA in Arthurian Literature (super specific) because my medieval professor had gone there for graduate school and I did want to study abroad and live in the place the literature I was studying originated from. For Purdue, I picked that school because I wanted to work with a specific professor. My second MA and PhD were also fully funded by Purdue and I think that is the only way to do graduate school. I was an Instructor of Record for six years which paid for my tuition and then I received a small stipend. Over the course of my graduate degree I also did PT work at the university archives, for an academic journal, for an intercultural/study abroad office, and I worked at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.  

• How has your grad program contributed to where you are professionally today?

  (DC) Unfortunately, it hasn't contributed a ton. As a military spouse with little to no control over where I live, I've struggled to find open positions in the first place. I have been able to apply some of what I learned in jobs in adjacent fields (specifically libraries and recreation), but those jobs are also difficult to come by. While I appreciate what I learned, I don't think it's given me much of an edge in the hiring process - anything I learned you could probably learn through direct experience and most jobs are asking for that anyway. 

  (JM) I like to describe my grad program as an MBA within the arts field. I gained such important administrative experience in marketing, financial management, fundraising, and event production that I felt like I had lots of options post-grad. While I was at Columbia, I got a student position at the college’s Museum of Contemporary Photography and I gained an enormous amount of hands-on experience working in collections. When I went to apply for jobs, I could present myself as a well-rounded museum professional with both applicable knowledge and a well-rounded portfolio of work.

  (MP-H) The internships I was able to get with the support of my grad program provided me with a wide variety of experiences that have given me diverse work experience (institution size, collection type, etc.). This diversity has come up multiple times in interviews and provided a great foundation for a variety of roles in museums/archives/art collections.  

• If you could go back in time before grad school, what would you tell your younger self? Would you make the same decision?

  (DC) I'm really not sure if I'd make the same decision. I rushed into it because of everything going on with COVID and I was bored and looking for something to do. I wanted to go to grad school anyway, so I figured why not. I don't completely regret it in the sense that I was genuinely interested in what I learned and it gave me something to focus on in a very difficult time. On the other hand, I sometimes find myself wishing I'd chosen a different degree (MLIS, Public History, Education) that might have opened more or different doors career-wise. 

  (JM) I think I would make the same decision. I really loved my graduate school program and the cohort I became close friends with. We now all support each other in our different endeavors in the arts. I also felt like this program was especially suited to going into small museum work. I now get to dabble and use my knowledge in all facets of museum work at my small site. 

  (MP-H) I would absolutely make the same decision! If I could go back in time, I would encourage myself to remember that when a door closes in one place, another opens somewhere. I was able to have some incredible experiences, but those all popped up after a "loss" of some kind. There are so many ways to contribute to this field....be open to whatever comes your way!  

  (PR) If I could do things differently or give one piece of advice, it might be to choose a school that feels like somewhere you can put down roots -- I made so many connections in my grad school community and underestimated how much of an impact local networking could make and sometimes wish I chose a school in a city I could live in post-grad.   

• What's one piece of advice you have for an EMP exploring post-undergraduate options?

  (DC) If you're just finishing undergrad, don't rush into a decision and don't be afraid to take a gap year while you consider your options. A graduate degree doesn't necessarily give you an edge in this field like it does in others, so you might be better off trying an entry-level job someplace. From what I've seen, that tends to go further in terms of moving up the ladder career-wise. With online program options like the one I did, you can go back to grad school later if you want to build your expertise in a particular area. 

  (JM) I would recommend looking carefully at your financial situation before pursuing grad school. I was really hopeful with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program since I knew I wanted to work in museums and non-profit work. Unfortunately as we are learning, Federal programs can change with new administrations. In this job market, I think the most valuable grad programs are ones that can set you up for multiple career paths post-grad. It’s always nice to have a plan B and you might even discover another museum-adjacent path that is just as fulfilling.

  (MP-H) Take time to reflect on what you really love about museum work. Is it a type of object? a certain time of history? collections care? fundraising? There can be so many approaches to post-undergraduate life, but if you have an understanding on what you really are passionate about (and of course that may shift over time!) you can find which post-undergrad option will best fit that passion. I got into this work wanting to be an Egyptologist, but through undergrad realized that collections care/registration was my first passion....and now I'm a curator! you never know where your experiences may lead.   

  (MS) ONLY go to graduate school if it is funded - this is seriously my main advice. A graduate degree in anything (except for maybe a medical doctorate) is not worth it, especially in this day's market, going into huge debt for. 

  On a lighter note, when you are in graduate school, try to expand what classes you take. Yes, you need to take your core credits but try to take ONE class for fun. OR, take a transferable skills based class like business or development focused.