Diversity

[Tool]

That's kinda my point - if people aren't introduced to the concept of archaeology, they ain't going to look to work in it. So my question is, is there a block to certain people inherent in archaeology? Or, is it that certain sectors of society just aren't aware of it in the first place? Of course there is nothing to say it isn't a mixture of the two and more besides...

[kevin wooldridge]

Personally I knew nothing of archaeology when I was at school, so wasn't in a position to put it forward as a possible career or an option for studying at university. To my knowledge no-one at my school showed any interest and I know of no-one that even followed it as a hobby let alone as a career. It was after leaving school that I met people with archaeology connections that prompted me to get involved....

....mind you I don't think a lot of my teachers ever thought that any of their pupils would end up in a job that involved doing much more than stacking shelves or operating cash registers, so that wasn't the fault of archaeology per se, but more the fault of middle class 1970s teachers who thought that going to work in a large comprehensive was something akin to missionary work. Except they cared less for the souls of their pupils than they did on impressing their peer group that somehow they were 'living on the edge'.....I have never been convinced by those adverts that show one teacher making a difference. We had hundreds of teachers at my school and none would qualify for that honour.....We had a headmistress called Mrs Thatcher for heavens sake and as my old schoolfriend Mark Steel is fond of mentioning we went from a school run by Thatcher into a big old world run by Thatcher....

[barkingdigger]

While I understand Raksha's concerns about under-representation, I do have to wonder why we're all so keen to inflict the mire of our insecure, underpaid, white middle-class male career-graveyard of a "profession" on even more segments of society? :face-stir:


In all seriousness, though, there is still an argument about making archaeology more relevant to society as a whole, which must be the key to penetrating the "missing" segments that are so poorly represented in the tea hut. Not sure how to do it, mind...

[Wax]

let us be honest anyone with aspirations for a good solid career where they are be able to afford a decent standard of living raise and educate a family and retire on a decent pension would not seriously consider a career in archaeology.

[Doug]

That's kinda my point - if people aren't introduced to the concept of archaeology, they ain't going to look to work in it. So my question is, is there a block to certain people inherent in archaeology? Or, is it that certain sectors of society just aren't aware of it in the first place? Of course there is nothing to say it isn't a mixture of the two and more besides...

http://dougsarchaeology.wordpress.com/20...le-i-know/

work your way through the earlier ramblings to the sections on 'the tale of two digs'

[kevin wooldridge]

let us be honest anyone with aspirations for a good solid career where they are be able to afford a decent standard of living raise and educate a family and retire on a decent pension would not seriously consider a career in archaeology.

How then do you explain the c5000 people who do make try to make a living from archaeology in the UK?

[Wax]

How then do you explain the c5000 people who do make try to make a living from archaeology in the UK?

Define "a living" most of my peers, the ones I went to school with and grew up with are all earning well over £30,000. Few archaeologists have any hope of earning at that level. The route for survivale is to hook up with a partner who will have steady job and good income, something that allows a good many archaeologists to continue in the job. Many do not have permenant contracts and even more leave the profession.

People enter this profession for the love of it however that love will be out weighed by more practical demands. A few and it is a few, do make it to a level where some job security and a reasonable wage make it tenable. If you have ambitions towards job security and a good living then you will not enter this profession.

[Tool]

Even if what you say is true Wax, that is no excuse for not attempting to address the problems highlighted above. And there are plenty of other jobs out there with comparable wages. And from the little I've seen it's not the wages per se that are the issue, it's the total lack of security of income month on month for many. Not sure there's a simple answer to that one though, given the nature of the job.

Does this mean that to have a comfortable life I have to find myself a Mrs. Tool, with a good job and a predilection for muddy things? Hmmm...

[Tool]

http://dougsarchaeology.wordpress.com/20...le-i-know/

work your way through the earlier ramblings to the sections on 'the tale of two digs'

Thanks Doug. Makes sense.

[P Prentice]

i would guess that the majority of us with careers in uk archaeology, got involved because we were interested in what could be found out to explain our own lives. when i look at an excavation in my home town i feel a direct link with the lives revealed, i retain that sense of ownership with sites in my home county and for the most part with sites in my home country. having had a reasonable education i am aware that my dna will probably show that my ancestors probably came from further afield and when i look at excavations in asia or africa i am interested, but not really to the same extent as if i was looking at sites for which i have greater knowledge. even though i know that actions and events in apparently foreign cultures can have directly influenced the very archaeology i find so compulsive, i also know that my tiny head is not capable of knowing enough about the global site for me to invest sufficiently the time required.
so how do we instil a sense of ownership in more diverse audiences and encourage more diverse participation? my guess would be that we have to become more relevant to more of us. by telling better stories. stories require story tellers and story tellers need to emerge from behind context sheets, pot reports and radiocarbon dates. when was the last time you told a good story?