Organizers of MIIS-Sponsored Conference Release Groundbreaking Research on Interpreting Profession

August 5, 2010

A newly-released Interpreting Marketplace Study suggests that the interpretation profession is a high-pay, high-growth industry. The study was commissioned by InterpretAmerica, host sponsor of this June’s 1st North American Summit on Interpreting, and an organization co-founded by Monterey Institute Professor Barry Olsen (MACI ’99) and alumna Katherine Allen (MATI ’08). Prior to the summit, interpreters from the diverse areas represented in the field – including sign language interpreting, court interpreting, medical interpreting, educational interpreting, and military interpreting – had rarely joined forces. The study found that the interpreting industry within North America has been divided by lines of specialty, geography, and even the types of languages involved.

InterpretAmerica‘s mission is to provide a national forum for the interpreting profession. True to their ideals, the founders have now decided to provide access to the full survey free of charge as a service to the profession. Says Professor Olsen: “It is our hope that by making the Interpreting Market Survey results freely available to interpreters, agencies and end users of interpreting services, we will encourage a productive dialogue among the many stakeholders of this growing profession. It is a starting point and may well become a benchmark against which future growth and development in the field of interpreting will be measured.”

The 2nd North American Summit on Interpreting will be held on June 17, 2011 in Washington D.C.

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