Institute of Professional Editors Limited

News from the Institute of Professional Editors Limited

www.iped-editors.org

October  2008

By the time readers of the society newsletters see these notes, IPEd's first accreditation examination, held on Saturday 18 October will be almost done and dusted-an outcome of enormous significance for the future of our profession. I write ‘almost' because the exam markers, before they finalise their task, will be participating in a moderation workshop in Sydney during the first weekend in November to ensure a consistent approach to assessment across jurisdictions. More on the exam next month.   

New on the IPEd website is a report by Pamela Hewitt[1] of her fourth national survey of editors, conducted in conjunction with the 2007 national conference in Hobart. There were 132 responses to the survey, just under half of the respondents describing themselves as freelance. The full report is recommended reading for all editors, but to whet your appetite I'll list here a few of the main findings.

• The profession had not been taken over by men since the previous survey in 2005: 87% of the respondents were female.
• We're a highly educated lot: fewer than 10% of respondents did not have at least a first degree, and more than 60% had qualifications higher than an undergraduate degree.
• The proportion of editors reporting that they participated in professional development programs remained high at 97%.
• The proportion of full-time editors fell to 54%, compared with 60% in the previous survey, with 28% working part time and 14% working at other jobs as well as editing. About half the respondents worked as employees.
• There was little change since 2005 in the rates that editors reported charging, the average hourly rate remaining at just above $60. There were significant interstate variations in the average. As before, the standard deviation about the mean was large, with reported hourly rates ranging from $34 to $160.[2]

 •    Among the main challenges identified by respondents were extending skills and keeping abreast of technology.

• High priorities for respondents included that the professional associations take on a greater public promotion role, that professional development activities increase, and that more effort be put into mentoring and career advice and development.

Here's a little gem from the comments field of a survey form:

I am sick of hearing about women supplementing their income when they are stuck at home with kids by doing ‘a bit of editing'. I wouldn't dream of doing ‘a little doctoring' or ‘a little engineering'. Editors need to be acknowledged as professionals, and important ones at that.

Ed Highley

Secretary

[1] Pamela is a member of the Professional Editors' Association (NSW). Her previous surveys were conducted while she was a member of the Society of Editors (NSW).

[2] ‘Rates revisited', a paper presented by Pamela Hewitt at a recent public meeting of the Professional Editors' Association is another recent addition to the website.