What degree do you need to work in a museum?

You need a bachelor's degree in museum studies to work in a museum. This is the bare minimum, and many higher-level roles in museums require a master's degree or Ph.D. Depending on the type of museum you want to work in, you may choose to major in archaeology, anthropology, sociology, geography, history, art history, biology, marine biology, zoology, or many other specific areas.

How To Become A Museum Curator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a museum curator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Barry Jackisch

Museum curators manage the inventory of museums by overseeing the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of museum objects. They are also responsible for the identification of the age and origin of the objects and may also work with the public. In addition, several museum curators work for the museum board of trustees and are responsible for museum funding, public relations, and site maintenance.

Museum curators normally work in museums, art galleries, training institutions that specialize in art and history, and often with private collectors. They do not only need the knowledge appropriate for the job, but they also need to possess other skills like good critical thinking skills to be successful in this role. It is also important that they have organizational skills, public service skills, and the ability to manage and work with database systems.

Are you interested in learning how to become a museum curator? The qualifications of the museum curator include, at a minimum, a bachelor's degree in architecture, history, archeology, museum studies, or similar fields. A specialized museum curator's degree offered at the undergraduate level might not be enough to get started; instead, learning about history and the styles of topics addressed by museums is a reasonable way to start.

What general advice would you give to a museum curator?

Dr. Barry Jackisch

Associate Professor of History and Director of the Roger Ray Institute for Humanities, Website

Be honest when you are in the negotiating stage with a future employer and do as much research as you can before entering conversations about salary and benefits. Also ask in the negotiations if there is a plan in place for regular salary increases/raises or opportunities for additional work and/or promotion and what that might look like.

ScoreMuseum CuratorUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $44,309

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.39%

Asian 5.04%

Black or African American 5.21%

Hispanic or Latino 7.21%

Unknown 4.84%

White 76.31%

Gender

female 60.10%

male 39.90%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a museum curator

Explore museum curator education requirements

Most common museum curator degrees

Bachelor's

67.7 %

Master's

16.1 %

Associate

9.0 %

Start to develop specific museum curator skills

Skills	Percentages
Collections Management	29.04%
Art Collections	13.94%
Museum Exhibits	11.98%
Fine Arts	10.68%
Educational Programs	9.11%

Complete relevant museum curator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New museum curators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a museum curator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real museum curator resumes.

Research museum curator duties and responsibilities

Review and edit listing photography and source photographers in various markets to capture unique accommodations and cover special assignments worldwide.
Fashion and coordinate historical costumes for first person interpretation

Apply for museum curator jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a museum curator job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do museum curators rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

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1 star

Museum curator reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2020

Pros

looking at everything and figuring out when and where it is from I also like the fact that they tell people where to put the object in what cadigory

Cons

all the schooling and all the paper work involved