Students

(Funded by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation)

The face of graduate archival education in the United States has changed greatly over the past decade. This research involved a survey of graduates of archival education programs in the United States. The goal was to profile the next generation of archivists by focusing on a variety of demographic, economic, and professional issues. Findings indicated that the new generation of archivists is younger, predominantly female, and slightly better compensated than previous generations. Furthermore, interesting contrasts and comparisons were made between graduates of history- and library and / or information science-based programs as well as between men and women in terms of employment sectors, salaries, and the length of the graduate programs. Understanding career trajectories is important in building a stronger archival profession in the United States as well as in fostering professionalization among the younger generation. If the record of the past is to have a future, our students are literally the future of our past.

Investigator: Elizabeth Yakel

Article: Elizabeth Yakel, "The Future of the Past: A Survey of Graduates of Master's-Level Graduate Archival Education Programs in the United States," American Archivist 63/2 (Fall 2000).

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