Sick of Unpaid Internships?

Looking to advocate against unpaid internships? Here are some materials I’ve found to help people understand the importance of compensating interns; I’ll be sharing more information and advocacy strategies soon.

  • Unpaid internships benefit those who can afford to work for free, which means they benefit the few instead of the many (Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions)

  • Perpetuates wage gap (Washington Post)

  • Depreciates ALL cultural heritage workers at all levels - the work we do and our wages (Harvard Business Review)

  • Unpaid interns are not protected by labor laws, specifically ones for sexual harassment/gender discrimination. Even if an intern is getting credit, if the position is unpaid they are not protected by labor laws. (National Council on Public History)

  • An unpaid summer internship for credit costs a student on average $6,000+. The student loan crisis impacts cultural resource workers and many have to take on additional debt to do unpaid labor. That $6,000 with interest can quickly increase. (Money.com)

  • "Unpaid internships also raise issues of fairness, equity and potential exploitation simply because most college students cannot afford to forgo a paying job or go deeper into debt simply to burnish their resumes." (Forbes)

  • The data does not lie! Here is what Pay Our Interns have found in their research! 

    • "2 Million: The estimated number of people who intern in the U.S. each year."

    • "6% to 8% of Black and Latinx students have paid internship experience, compared to 74% of their white peers."

    • "50% More Job Offers: Paid interns received 50% more job offers compared to unpaid interns or those who have never interned"

    • "6 out of 10 employers prefer hiring a candidate with work experience such as internships. In the 1970s, 3 out of 4 jobs required a high school education or less."

    • "80% of students in college are working part-time jobs to pay for their living expenses."

  • The January 19, 2023 Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies sent by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget. "Agencies are encouraged to expand their overall number of interns while increasing the number of paid interns and reducing reliance on unpaid interns, consistent with applicable laws."

House where King planned Alabama marches moving to Michigan

Athena F. Richardson, M.A. and I believe that it it is a privilege to support someone's dream and we have been honored to support Jawana Jackson's. Since 2021, I have worked alongside Athena F. Richardson to support Jawana Jackson as she explored how the Jackson Home and her family’s story should/could be preserved. We examined every option possible to achieve Jawana’s goals of using the home and its contents as an international educational tool for social innovation and civil rights history.

Jawana spoke, shared, and maintained laser focus on her dream. Athena and I listened, researched, and worked with Jawana to create “the blueprint” to find the next caretaker of the Jackson Home. We reached out to Katherine White*, Curator of Design at the Henry Ford to start a conversation and now we have made history. Please take the time out of your busy schedules to learn about the Jackson Home's history and its future.


*+ a fellow alumni of Eastern Michigan University’s Historic Preservation program.

American Alliance of Museums Changes Job Board Policies

After 700+ petition signatures, hundreds of postcards, and many emails the American Alliance of Museums has chosen to require compensation for their job board. It has been a pleasure to work with Sierra Van Ryck deGroot, the National Emerging Museum Professionals Network, and many of you to advocate for this change. We are going to continue advocating for compensation transparency, but we also are advocating against unpaid internships. We will be updating the Equity in Pay + Pay Transparency Accountability Table regularly.

Featured on Hyperallergic

It has been a joy to partner with Sierra Van Ryck deGroot and the National Emerging Museum Professionals Network to advocate for wage transparency and healthy work environments. The cultural resource sector is broad - workers do everything from manage historic house museums to lead archaeology digs and everything in between. Transparency is important as we work together toward ensuring both living and equitable wages. Thank you Hyperallergic for amplifying this message. We aren't done advocating for change!

“As a new class of graduating college students gears up to enter the job market, a fresh cohort of art lovers will apply to fill the estimated 4,900 museum job openings in the United States.

But snagging one of those coveted jobs is notoriously competitive, and the work itself is infamously underpaid.” - Elaine Vellie

Continue reading the full article.

Now Announcing the Equity in Pay + Pay Transparency Accountability Database

“The National Emerging Museum Professionals Network (NEMPN) is delighted to share that, in partnership with Sarah Marsom of Dismantle Preservation, we have compiled and will be actively updating a new resource for the museum community.

As you may know, NEMPN is dedicated to salary transparency and pay equity in all forms, including the end of unpaid internships in the museum field. Sarah has also committed to this work in the preservation and collections sector.

We are delighted to announce our newest resource, the Equity in Pay + Pay Transparency Database. Hosted via Airtable, we have compiled the beginnings of an accountability database where folks will be able to publicly see which museum professional organizations and other related job posting spaces have committed to #ShowTheSalary and not supporting the continuation of unpaid internships in this sector by including them on their jobs boards (#DeathToUnpaidInternships).

You can view the database here (link is also below) or if you notice an organization/jobs resource space not being shared or the information is incorrect or if your organization/resource does decide to change your policies, you can submit your updates here (link is also below). We will be updating the document on a semi-regular basis! “

Last updated 6/22/22:

Access the Equity in Pay + Pay Transparency Accountability Database here.

Submit updated information to the Equity in Pay + Pay Transparency Accountability Database here.

Call To Action: June 14, Labor Equity Email Campaign

To promote the Cultural Resource field as a professional discipline and to increase our capacity to sustain our ability to support our communities, we must advocate for cultural resource professionals to receive equitable compensation. 

On June 14, please set aside time on your calendar from 3-4pm EST to email the following organizations:

  1. American Alliance of Museums via bleonard@aam-us.org UPDATE: AAM will require compensation information as of November 14, 2022

  2. American Cultural Resources Association via amanda@acra-crm.org UPDATE: ACRA’s board voted on June 29, 2022 to amend their job board policies to require compensation information!

We are asking these organizations to do the following:

  1. Require compensation information for all part-time and full-time positions shared on their respective job boards

  2. To not allow any unpaid positions to be posted on their job board.

  • 1.New York City and Colorado have passed legislation to require compensation transparency for job opening descriptions. Oregon is currently considering passing similar legislation. Let’s make sure cultural resource job boards are legally compliant!

    2. Unpaid internships devalue all preservation professional positions.

    3. Unpaid internships limit professional development opportunities to the few instead of the many.

    4. 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.

    5. 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 1:

    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<

    Sample Letter 2:

    Dear >Insert Organization Name<

    It is important for >Insert Organization Name< to acknowledge its place as a leader in the cultural resource field. As a leader >Insert Organization Name< has >insert an example or two of how they have been a leader (ex: hosting annual trainings, managing certifications/accreditations, etc.)<.

    Based on >Insert Organization Name<‘s history of setting professional standards (indirectly|directly though their work), >Insert Organization Name< can set the standard for job boards and employers will comply. This is not an anecdotal stance; this is based on job boards managed by the National Council on Public History, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and others in the cultural resource sector that changed their policies in 2020. Their policy shifts have led to an increase in salary transparency within certain sectors of the cultural resource field over the past 12+ months.

    >Insert Organization Name< ‘s suggestion for salary disclosure on the website does not acknowledge the group’s power. Your job board has proven itself as a valuable resource for both job seekers and organizations looking to hire. Studies have shown requiring compensation information benefits both. While I can acknowledge that compensation may not legally be disclosed in RFPs dependent on funder, none of my research has shown that to be true for part/full time positions. It’s also worth noting that Colorado and New York City have both past legislation to require compensation information in job descriptions for companies based in or workers based in those places. Oregon is considering similar legislation at this time.

    Please consider the power dynamics of the cultural resource field and >Insert Organization Name<‘s ability to set the standard for job boards.

    Thank you for your time and consideration,

    >Insert Your Name<

  • 1.You’re Not Serious About Equity If You Don’t Post Salaries

    2. When you don’t disclose salary range on a job posting, a unicorn loses its wings

    3. If Culture Sector Employees Want Equality, Post Salary and Benefits With Job Descriptions

    4. Salary Is Most Important Part of Job Ad

    5. Take the National Emerging Museum Professionals Network (NEMPN) Paid Internships Pledge

    6. Pay Equity: Performative or Palpable

    7. Reimagining the Internship to Promote Racial Equity

    8. Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in History Organizations

Thank you for choosing to be a part of the labor equity movement in the cultural resource field. Challenging existing constructs is brave and I applaud you for taking the leap to help make change happen.

This post will be updated if either job board amends their posting requirements

In 2022, four job boards have changed their requirements thanks to our advocacy efforts:

  • American Alliance of Museums; UPDATE: AAM will require compensation information as of November 14, 2022.

  • American Cultural Resources Association; UPDATE: On June 29, 2022 the board voted to require compensation information and to not allow unpaid internships on their job board.

  • The Register of Professional Archaeologists; UPDATE: On March 15,2022 the board voted to require compensation information and to not allow unpaid internships on their job board.

  • Association for Preservation Technology; UPDATE: As of February, 2022, compensation is now a requirement for all positions listed on the APTI job board. “APTI is committed to equity, diversity and opportunity within the preservation community; in keeping with this commitment, we require that posting include salary or compensation information (a minimum or a range is acceptable).”

In 2021, one job board changed their requirements thanks to our advocacy efforts:

  • Society of Architectural Historians; “To support labor equity in architectural history and related fields, as of November 24, 2022, the Society of Architectural Historians requires all job postings in the SAH Career Center to include salary information (may be compensation, salary range, or minimum salary). Unpaid internships will not be shared on the SAH website or in the Career Center.” Link to learn more on SAH’s decision process.

In 2020, five job boards changed their requirements thanks to our advocacy efforts:

  • 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.

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

Dismantle Preservation Spring Learning Lab Press

“Old Salem Museums & Gardens has been chosen to host the 2022 Dismantle Preservation Learning Lab running from April 21st to 23rd. In collaboration with cultural resources consultant Sarah Marsom and Decay Devils founder Tyrell Anderson, the three-day lab will offer intimate and immersive educational opportunities within the Old Salem historic district. Registrants from diverse backgrounds and with varying levels of professional experience will have the opportunity to engage in collaborative discussions about the future of preservation, cultural resource management, and public history.” Continue reading the full article.