UPDATE: Click here to see Phase 2 of the Labor Equity Initiative

To promote the Historic Preservation field as a professional discipline and to increase our capacity to sustain our ability to support our communities, we must advocate for preservation professionals to receive equitable compensation. There are two areas to address to promote salary equity:

We can no longer support unpaid internships in our field
We can no longer allow organizations and job boards to impede salary transparency by omitting compensation in job descriptions.

Reach out to the following historic preservation job boards and challenge them to no longer share unpaid internships and that they require salary ranges for all job postings:

Preservenet; UPDATE: As of October 2020, all positions listed must include compensation.
Preservation Directory; UPDATE: Preservation Directory is in the process of updating their language for job board submissions.
National Council on Public History; UPDATE: As of September 9, 2020 all positions listed must include a salary, salary range, hourly rate, salary code, or some other measure of compensation.
National Trust for Historic Preservation; UPDATE: The National Trust for Historic Preservation has modified their job board for available NTHP positions to include salary information. Their FORUM job board as of October 13, 2020 now requires “all listings to include at least a salary range (or a minimum salary)” and they “will no longer accept uncompensated internships for listing.”
The Historic Preservation Professionals group on Facebook was not a part of the original list of job boards to be petitioned for change. As of December 2020, the group moderators voted to require compensation for part time or full time jobs and to no longer allow unpaid internships.

Why this matters - Sample Talking Points:

Unpaid internships devalue all preservation professional positions.
Unpaid internships limit professional development opportunities to the few instead of the many.
Statistically women and people of color are less likely to negotiate salary. Not disclosing salary in a job listing puts these individuals at a disadvantage and perpetuates the wage gap.
If you are an organization looking to hire someone, you will be starting the relationship out with full honesty and transparency. You’ll also generate an applicant pool that will confidently be interested in accepting this position knowing that the compensation will provide a sustainable income.

Sample Letter:

Dear >Insert Organization Name<,

Thank you for providing an accessible platform for preservation professionals to seek jobs. If the cultural sector wants equality we can no longer support unpaid internships and we must elevate the standards for job listings. Please modify your job board to no longer allow unpaid internships/fellowships and to require the posting of salary ranges.

For years the cultural sector has discussed the negative implications of unpaid internships and it is now time to stop this practice. Unpaid internships systematically devalue all preservation professionals’ work and ensure only a limited number individuals can pursue entry level positions in the field. If your organization believes, as it has said in the past, that the cultural sector should diversify who it hires; this is a fundamental step.

Adding salary ranges is also integral to salary equity. Women and people of color are statistically less likely to negotiate, thus not sharing a salary rage furthers the wage gap. These standards not only benefit the job seeker, but they will also benefit the employer. Job seekers will not waste their time on job applications if they do not know if the job will provide an income needed to take care of themselves and/or their family. I was told recently by someone who has helped hire preservation positions for their workplace " I've seen this first hand with our job applicants- when we list a range- especially a competitive range- we get better quality applicants. Hands. Down."

Please amend your job board submission standards for the betterment of the cultural sector. For more information, please read the following articles >Insert Links for Additional Information<.

Sincerely,

>Insert Your Name<

Want to learn more about the importance of salary ranges? Click these links!

If you want to learn more strategies to better the preservation profession, please join me at the Dismantle Preservation Virtual Unconference on July 28, 2020.

This page will be updated when the respective job board policies have been modified.