Museum docent vs curatorial specialist

The differences between museum docents and curatorial specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a museum docent and a curatorial specialist. Additionally, a curatorial specialist has an average salary of $43,840, which is higher than the $40,630 average annual salary of a museum docent.

The top three skills for a museum docent include natural history, museum gift shop and museum exhibits. The most important skills for a curatorial specialist are cataloging, , and .

Museum docent vs curatorial specialist overview

	Museum Docent	Curatorial Specialist
Yearly salary	$40,630	$43,840
Hourly rate	$19.53	$21.08
Growth rate	12%	12%
Number of jobs	77	23,992
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 81%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Museum docent vs curatorial specialist salary

Museum docents and curatorial specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Museum Docent	Curatorial Specialist
Average salary	$40,630	$43,840
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $67,000	Between $28,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between museum docent and curatorial specialist education

There are a few differences between a museum docent and a curatorial specialist in terms of educational background:

	Museum Docent	Curatorial Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 81%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common major	History	Anthropology
Most common college	Harvard University	University of Maryland - College Park

Museum docent vs curatorial specialist demographics

Here are the differences between museum docents' and curatorial specialists' demographics:

	Museum Docent	Curatorial Specialist
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 37.1% Female, 62.9%	Male, 30.0% Female, 70.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.1% Asian, 4.9% White, 77.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 5.2% Asian, 3.5% White, 81.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between museum docent and curatorial specialist duties and responsibilities

Museum docent example responsibilities.

Conduct tours of the anthropology and paleontology museums * Write/edit exhibit- and art show-relate materials
Create and present educational PowerPoint oral presentations.

Curatorial specialist example responsibilities.

Manage user securities, roles, database backups, restore, fail-over management for SQL cluster.
Assist in cataloging incoming items for the collection.
Supervise student employees responsible for processing and cataloging collections.
Conduct research using online federal regulations, review Medicare and Medicaid policy and guidelines to complete an accurate and well-support decision.
Facilitate multi-year project digitizing and cataloguing decoration in manuscripts (approx.

Museum docent vs curatorial specialist skills

Common museum docent skills

Natural History, 39%
Museum Gift Shop, 9%
Museum Exhibits, 8%
Front Desk, 7%
Public Speaking, 7%
Educational Programs, 6%

Common curatorial specialist skills

Cataloging, 100%

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Museum Docent vs Curatorial Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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