Collections Care as Care Work: Examining the Gendered Nature of Museum Work in Archaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ideas, Ethical Ideals, and Museum Practice in North American Archaeological Collections" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Despite women receiving the majority of archaeology PhD degrees for decades, issues with gender representation continue within the discipline, such as the well documented underrepresentation of women in prestigious academic positions. It follows that the majority of archaeological museum collections stem from projects led by male archaeologists, yet the care of these collections is largely undertaken by museum professionals, a field that has been and continues to trend predominantly female. In this paper, we compare female representation in the traditional academic archaeology with female representation in archaeological museum spaces. Often categorized as a “pink collar” career, we consider the ways archaeology conducted within museums has been classified as “care work” and thus impacted by gender devaluation. We argue the framework of “care” associated with museum work leads to the negation of individual scholarship (or agency) associated with similar research, collaboration, and outreach efforts in more traditional academic settings. As ethical changes in our discipline spur increasing utilization of museum collections, the intersections of gender, care, prestige, and valuation will require further attention.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ideas, Ethical Ideals, and Museum Practice in North American Archaeological Collections   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38864.0