Museum docent vs museum technician

The differences between museum docents and museum technicians 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 museum technician. Additionally, a museum technician has an average salary of $40,953, 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 museum technician are collections database, museum collection, and artifact.

Museum docent vs museum technician overview

	Museum Docent	Museum Technician
Yearly salary	$40,630	$40,953
Hourly rate	$19.53	$19.69
Growth rate	12%	12%
Number of jobs	77	5,697
Job satisfaction	-	3
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 81%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Museum docent vs museum technician salary

Museum docents and museum technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Museum Docent	Museum Technician
Average salary	$40,630	$40,953
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $67,000	Between $24,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	Delaware
Best paying company	-	Smithsonian Institution
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between museum docent and museum technician education

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

	Museum Docent	Museum Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 81%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	History	History
Most common college	Harvard University	Harvard University

Museum docent vs museum technician demographics

Here are the differences between museum docents' and museum technicians' demographics:

	Museum Docent	Museum Technician
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 37.1% Female, 62.9%	Male, 39.0% Female, 61.0%
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, 5.3% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.4% Asian, 5.2% White, 76.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between museum docent and museum technician 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.

Museum technician example responsibilities.

Assist with planning, designing, and prototyping new exhibits.
Prepare daily animal diets and perform cleaning duties to USDA and AZA standards.
Perform an array of prototyping, fabrication, assembly, integration, and installation of exhibits.
Organize and catalog anthropology, mineral science and paleobiology collections.
Create and run excel macros on ceramic artifacts providing statistical analysis data.
Create and run excel macros on ceramic artifacts providing statistical analysis data.

Museum docent vs museum technician 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 museum technician skills

Collections Database, 11%
Museum Collection, 11%
Artifact, 11%
NPS, 9%
Pest Management, 8%
Cataloging, 8%

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Museum Docent vs Museum Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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