The Employment Status of Humanities Majors
- In 2018, 3.6% of the humanities majors who were terminal bachelor’s degree holders (TBHs) were unemployed (defined here as someone who does not have a job but actively looked for work in the previous four weeks and is currently available for work; Indicator III-04a).1 This was somewhat higher than the 2.9% rate among all TBHs. TBHs who majored in the health/medical sciences or education had the lowest rates of unemployment, at 2.0%. (This compares to a rate of 5.3% among Americans ages 25 to 64 who completed high school but did not attend college.)2
- The unemployment rate for male humanities TBHs was virtually identical to that for female degree-holders. The gender gap in unemployment was modest for all of the academic fields examined. At just under one percentage point, the gender differentials for health/medical sciences and the life sciences were the largest, with men more likely than women to be unemployed.
- The unemployment rate among people who received a bachelor’s degree in the humanities and subsequently earned an advanced degree (in any field) was 2.4%, only slightly above the 2.1% rate among all graduates who had earned an advanced degree (Indicator III-04b).3 Graduates with an advanced degree who had majored as undergraduates in education, health/medical sciences, or life sciences had the lowest unemployment rates (1.4–1.6%).
- While for humanities TBHs the unemployment rate for men was virtually indistinguishable from that for women, male humanities majors with advanced degrees (in any field) were slightly less likely than their female counterparts to be unemployed. The unemployment rate for male humanities majors who had gone on to earn an advanced degree was 2.1%, as compared to 2.7% for women. Among graduates with an advanced degree, the widest gender gap in unemployment was found among those who majored in engineering, as the unemployment rate among women was 3.1%, compared to 2.1% among men.
- Among early-career humanities TBHs (ages 23 to 32), men had a higher rate of unemployment (4.7%) than women (3.0%; Indicator III-04c).4 Among older TBHs (ages 48 to 59), women were more likely to be unemployed (4.3% and 3.2%).
- Among humanities majors with advanced degrees, unemployment was somewhat more common among women ages 25 to 35 than men in the same age bracket (3.0% versus 2.1%). Among those 49 to 60, the gap was even less pronounced, with 2.7% of women unemployed, compared to 2.4% of men.
- Among younger TBHs (ages 23 to 32), graduates in the arts had the highest unemployment rate, 4.1%—slightly higher than the 3.7% rate for the humanities (Indicator III-04d). Younger TBHs in education had the lowest rate of unemployment, 1.5%.
- Among older TBHs (ages 48 to 59), arts majors and humanities majors had the highest rates of unemployment (3.8% and 3.6%), while the rate among health/medical sciences graduates was the lowest, 1.5%.
- Among younger college graduates (ages 25 to 35) with an advanced degree, those who had majored in the humanities or arts as undergraduates had the highest unemployment rates (2.7% and 2.5%), but these were only nominally higher than most other majors (Indicator III-04e). Education majors were the only standouts, having a particularly low unemployment rate of 1.0%.
- The unemployment rate for older graduates (ages 49 to 60) with an advanced degree was highest among undergraduate arts majors (3.1%). The rate for humanities majors was most similar to the rate for graduates in the behavioral/social sciences, business, and engineering at this stage in their lives (the rates for each of these fields was in the 2.5–2.6% range). Advanced degree holders who majored in education, health/medical sciences, or life sciences as undergraduates had the lowest rates of unemployment (1.3–1.4%).
Endnotes
- 1Please see “About the Data” for more information as to how the unemployment rates reported here, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) data, compare to the commonly known monthly unemployment rates, which are based on the Current Population Survey, a joint effort of the Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey (via Table ID S2301; 11/18/2020).
- 3The American Community Survey does not inquire about the field of postbaccalaureate degrees.
- 4The ACS does not ask respondents about their amount of work experience. The Humanities Indicators thus uses age to distinguish between workers who are in the first years of their career and those who are more experienced. Age and work experience are not perfectly correlated, but age does provide an approximate measure of work experience that allows the Humanities Indicators to examine the effect of this experience on unemployment and earnings.
* People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the previous four weeks, and are currently available for work. For an inventory of the particular degree programs included under each of the broad academic fields to which the graph refers, see the ACS-HI Crosswalk.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The information presented here on unemployment among degree holders in the humanities and other major academic fields is based on an original analysis by the Humanities Indicators of data from the American Community Survey (ACS), which has been administered by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2005. The ACS replaced the “long form” version of the decennial census and collects information—used to allocate billions in state and federal funding—about Americans’ personal characteristics, family composition, employment, income, and housing.
The ACS-based unemployment estimates presented here diverge from the better-known monthly unemployment figures based on the Current Population Survey (which is jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]) because of differences between the two surveys in content, population sample, and data collection method. (For additional information, see the BLS’ “American Community Survey Questions and Answers” at http://www.bls.gov/lau/acsqa.htm.)
* People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the previous four weeks, and are currently available for work. For an inventory of the particular degree programs included under each of the broad academic fields to which the graph refers, see the ACS-HI Crosswalk.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The information presented here on unemployment among degree holders in the humanities and other major academic fields is based on an original analysis by the Humanities Indicators of data from the American Community Survey (ACS), which has been administered by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2005. The ACS replaced the “long form” version of the decennial census and collects information—used to allocate billions in state and federal funding—about Americans’ personal characteristics, family composition, employment, income, and housing.
The ACS-based unemployment estimates presented here diverge from the better-known monthly unemployment figures based on the Current Population Survey (which is jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]) because of differences between the two surveys in content, population sample, and data collection method. (For additional information, see the BLS’ “American Community Survey Questions and Answers” at http://www.bls.gov/lau/acsqa.htm.)
* People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the previous four weeks, and are currently available for work. For an inventory of the particular degree programs included under each of the broad academic fields to which the graph refers, see the ACS-HI Crosswalk.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The information presented here on unemployment among degree holders in the humanities and other major academic fields is based on an original analysis by the Humanities Indicators of data from the American Community Survey (ACS), which has been administered by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2005. The ACS replaced the “long form” version of the decennial census and collects information—used to allocate billions in state and federal funding—about Americans’ personal characteristics, family composition, employment, income, and housing.
The ACS-based unemployment estimates presented here diverge from the better-known monthly unemployment figures based on the Current Population Survey (which is jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]) because of differences between the two surveys in content, population sample, and data collection method. (For additional information, see the BLS’ “American Community Survey Questions and Answers” at http://www.bls.gov/lau/acsqa.htm.)
The ACS does not ask respondents about their amount of work experience. The Humanities Indicators thus uses age to distinguish between workers who are in the first years of their career and those who are more experienced. Age and work experience are not perfectly correlated, but age does provide an approximate measure of work experience that allows the Humanities Indicators to examine the effect of this experience on unemployment and earnings.
* People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the previous four weeks, and are currently available for work. For an inventory of the particular degree programs included under each of the broad academic fields to which the graph refers, see the ACS-HI Crosswalk.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The information presented here on unemployment among degree holders in the humanities and other major academic fields is based on an original analysis by the Humanities Indicators of data from the American Community Survey (ACS), which has been administered by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2005. The ACS replaced the “long form” version of the decennial census and collects information—used to allocate billions in state and federal funding—about Americans’ personal characteristics, family composition, employment, income, and housing.
The ACS-based unemployment estimates presented here diverge from the better-known monthly unemployment figures based on the Current Population Survey (which is jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]) because of differences between the two surveys in content, population sample, and data collection method. (For additional information, see the BLS’ “American Community Survey Questions and Answers” at http://www.bls.gov/lau/acsqa.htm.)
The ACS does not ask respondents about their amount of work experience. The Humanities Indicators thus uses age to distinguish between workers who are in the first years of their career and those who are more experienced. Age and work experience are not perfectly correlated, but age does provide an approximate measure of work experience that allows the Humanities Indicators to examine the effect of this experience on unemployment and earnings.
* People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the previous four weeks, and are currently available for work. For an inventory of the particular degree programs included under each of the broad academic fields to which the graph refers, see the ACS-HI Crosswalk.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The information presented here on unemployment among degree holders in the humanities and other major academic fields is based on an original analysis by the Humanities Indicators of data from the American Community Survey (ACS), which has been administered by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2005. The ACS replaced the “long form” version of the decennial census and collects information—used to allocate billions in state and federal funding—about Americans’ personal characteristics, family composition, employment, income, and housing.
The ACS-based unemployment estimates presented here diverge from the better-known monthly unemployment figures based on the Current Population Survey (which is jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]) because of differences between the two surveys in content, population sample, and data collection method. (For additional information, see the BLS’ “American Community Survey Questions and Answers” at http://www.bls.gov/lau/acsqa.htm.)
The ACS does not ask respondents about their amount of work experience. The Humanities Indicators thus uses age to distinguish between workers who are in the first years of their career and those who are more experienced. Age and work experience are not perfectly correlated, but age does provide an approximate measure of work experience that allows the Humanities Indicators to examine the effect of this experience on unemployment and earnings.
