Being an Emerging Museum Professional in Prince Edward Island

Johanne Vigneault

For many people, when they hear “emerging museum professional” they picture a person between 20 and 30 years old. But age is not always a factor here. In my opinion, the word “emerging” refers to the novelty of the job. A person can be considered an emerging museum professional more than once in their career because of a change in positions, in the type of institutions or in the regions where they work. In fact, the term is most often used to designate museum professionals who have less than 5 years of experience in the sector.

There is a strong presence of emerging museum professionals in Prince Edward Island due to the seasonality of most institutions, many of which are not always able to rehire the same people from one year to the next. Some of these museums and heritage sites lack the budget to have an employee all year long and so Board members and volunteers take over during the period when they are closed to the public. This high turnover produces many opportunities for emerging museums professionals each summer, but it unfortunately does not create many sustainable positions for the long term. Being unemployed or having to search for another job in the winter months once the museum closes for the season is not an incentive for many; especially those wishing to start a family or to buy a house, projects that require good finance.

However, there are permanent staff members who do remain employed year-round and they are beginning to age. A percentage of them are considering retirement in the near future, which means more available positions for emerging museum professionals. In the last year, the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation, which administers the province’s museological collection and 7 sites, has seen quite a lot of changes in its staff. There are not only new people holding museum positions but those already employed in museums are also changing positions.

All photos — Johanne Vigneault

COVID-19 restrictions have emphasized the importance for institutions to have a virtual presence. This situation leads to the creation of new positions or added new tasks to the current staff members’ job descriptions, thereby increasing the number of opportunities for emerging museum professionals to take up one of these digital roles or expand their skillset to include virtual projects.

The closest universities and colleges to Prince Edward Island that specifically offer Museum Studies programs are in Quebec (for Francophones) and Ontario. Not everyone is willing or able to go that far away from the Island to pursue this specialized education. Therefore, many people with History degrees or degrees other than Museum Studies currently staff the Island’s museums and heritage sites. Although not all staff begin their role with a background in museology, there is a lot of on-the-job learning for emerging professionals through shadowing and mentoring.

At this time, the Community Museums Association of Prince Edward Island is the only organization in the province offering professional development workshops in museological practices. One of the Association’s main goals is to facilitate communication and cooperation among members and with other heritage organizations. Networking opportunities are an essential part of its activities, especially as networking is a natural conduit for learning between professionals who make connections and share experiences with one another.

The population of Prince Edward Island is slightly above 160,000 people, and this relatively small population means that recruitment for museum jobs is not always easy. Many newcomers to the region do not show interest since their heritage and history is absent in most of the province’s museums and heritage sites. The Community Museums Association of Prince Edward Island is working on helping institutions to develop new partnerships in order to fill these gaps. Our museums and heritage sites will become stronger by having more diverse perspectives in their offer and in their teams.

It’s not always easy to be an emerging museum professional, but my experience has taught me that people in our field are passionate and love to share their knowledge and expertise! Reach out, you never know what will happen. M

Johanne Vigneault, Executive Director of the Community Museums Association of PEI since 2019, has been an emerging museum professional a few times in her career.