Departments

• As of fall 2023, approximately 448 departments were awarding degrees in anthropology at colleges and universities in the United States. These departments included large, freestanding departments in the discipline as well as programs within departments awarding degrees in multiple disciplines. In the latter case, department chairs were asked to report information for anthropology only.
• Of the 448 departments awarding degrees, 176 (39%) were awarding graduate degrees in the discipline, with 116 (26%) awarding PhDs.

Faculty

• Anthropology departments employed 4,910 full- and part-time faculty members in fall 2023, with an average of 11 faculty members per department (and a median of 7). On average, departments at research universities had 14 faculty members, compared to 9 at master’s colleges and 5 at primarily undergraduate institutions.
• Approximately 73% of anthropology faculty members either had tenure or were on the tenure track
• Faculty members employed full-time with tenure or on the tenure track taught an average of 43 undergraduate students in fall 2023, while full-time faculty employed off the tenure track taught an average of 123 undergraduates. Faculty employed part-time taught an average of 65 undergraduate students in that fall term.
• While 40% of anthropology departments had made at least one new hire for the 2023–24 academic year, amounting to 270 new permanent faculty members, the departments had lost an average of 400 faculty over the previous two years. Among the faculty who left, 55% had retired.
• An estimated 21% of anthropology department chairs thought the number of tenure-line faculty in their department had increased from fall 2020 to fall 2023, while 41% estimated that their tenure-line faculty count had decreased during that period. In addition, 23% of chairs in the discipline thought the number of nontenure-track faculty had increased over the same period, while 17% thought the number had fallen.
• Looking ahead, 23% of anthropology chairs expected the number of tenure track faculty in their departments to increase over the next three academic years, while 27% thought the number would shrink. (The remainder thought the most likely outcome would be no change or were not sure.) In contrast, 15% thought their nontenure-track faculty count would increase, while 24% thought the number would shrink.
• About 45% of the departments had a faculty member come up for tenure during the previous two years. Averaging over these two years, 120 were granted tenure per annum and none were denied tenure, but 40 left prior to a tenure decision.
• Because it is not appropriate for a person to assign a demographic identity to another person, the survey did not ask department chairs to report their faculty members’ races or genders. However, the survey did ask chairs to describe themselves. Women constituted 57% of the chairs in anthropology departments in fall 2023, and 86% identified their race/ethnicity as white.

Undergraduate Students

• In fall 2023, departments that awarded degrees in anthropology had undergraduate course enrollments of approximately 272,070, with an average of 607 per department. (These are duplicated enrollment figures, with students taking multiple courses in the discipline counted in every course.) The average is skewed upward by large programs, typically at research universities, which have significantly larger-than-average enrollments, as indicated by the median enrollment of 362. Disaggregating by Carnegie type, average undergraduate enrollments ranged from 202 at primarily undergraduate institutions to 825 at research universities.
• Approximately 59% of anthropology department chairs thought undergraduate enrollments had held steady or increased from fall 2020 to fall 2023.
• On average, anthropology departments awarded 16 bachelor’s degrees per department in the 2022–23 academic year (with a median of 12 per department).These departments had an average of 37 juniors or seniors with a declared major in the discipline (and a median of 24).
• In the 2022–23 academic year, anthropology departments awarded an average of 13 minors in the discipline (with a median of 10 per department) and 8 certificates or other microcredentials per department (with a median of 4). While 65% of anthropology departments awarded minors that year, only 18% of departments reported awarding certificates or other microcredentials.

Graduate Students

• Degree-granting departments in anthropology had 12,690 enrollments in graduate courses in fall 2023, with an average of 72 (and a median of 50)enrollments per department with a graduate program.
• Approximately 6,650 students were working toward graduate degrees in anthropology. The average number of students pursuing an advanced degree in anthropology was 38 (and the median was 34) per department that granted such degrees.
• The 116 departments awarding PhDs admitted an average of 6 new doctoral students into their programs in fall 2023, for a total of 720 new doctoral students in the discipline.

Departmental Practices and Concerns

• Approximately 52% of department chairs were optimistic about the future of anthropology at their institutions, while 20% were pessimistic. (The remainder were either unsure or were neither optimistic nor pessimistic.)
• The survey found that 22% of the chairs in anthropology were concerned about the academic freedom of faculty members in their department. Among those departments, the most common concern was threats to such freedom from academic administration and the public (each cited by 59% of chairs).
• While 97% of anthropology departments provided research support for their full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members, and 78% offered such support for full-time nontenured faculty, only 32% offered such support for part-time faculty.
• Asked what their departments had done in recent years to attract additional majors, 68% of anthropology chairs reported offering events, classes, or other activities designed to aid students in thinking about future jobs or careers. The second most common strategy, reported by 66% of chairs, was outreach to students who were in other majors or undeclared.
• An estimated 72% of departments supported the career development of their undergraduates by offering (and for a small share of departments, by requiring) occupationally oriented lectures, while 77% offered internships, and 70% offered occupationally oriented coursework or workshops.
• In departments awarding doctorates in the discipline, 57% offered occupationally oriented lectures for their doctoral students; 61% offered internships; and 72% offered some occupationally oriented coursework or workshops.