Job Satisfaction of Humanities Majors
- Despite differences in graduates’ typical earnings, the vast majority of bachelor’s degree holders in every academic field expressed satisfaction with their job (Indicator III-10a). In 2019, the rate of satisfaction for undergraduate humanities majors (who may also have one or more advanced degrees in the humanities or another field) was 87%. The rate for bachelor’s degree holders generally was 90%.
- Humanities majors who went on to earn an advanced degree (in any field) were somewhat more likely to express satisfaction with their job than terminal bachelor’s degree holders (Indicator III-10b). While 85% of all workers with a terminal bachelor’s degree in the humanities reported they were either “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with their jobs, 91% of humanities majors with an advanced degree expressed satisfaction. Earning an advanced degree was associated with a somewhat higher degree of job satisfaction for most of the majors academic fields, but the humanities had the largest differential in satisfaction between the degree levels (6.4 percentage points). (For the rate of job satisfaction among holders of an advanced degree in the humanities, see “Job Satisfaction of Humanities Master’s Degree Recipients” and “Job Satisfaction of Humanities Ph.D. Degree Recipients.”)
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When both terminal bachelor’s degree and advanced degree holders are considered together, humanities majors’ rate of satisfaction with specific aspects of their jobs was similar to that of college graduates generally (Indicator III-10c). The largest difference between humanities majors and the entire baccalaureate-holding population with respect to job satisfaction was in the area of salary. While 74% of humanities graduates expressed satisfaction with that aspect of their jobs, the share for all college graduates was 78%. (For information about terminal bachelor’s degree holders in fields other than the humanities, see the supplemental tables.)
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A lower rate of job satisfaction was found among Black bachelor’s degree holders in several fields, including the humanities (Indicator III-10d). While 88% of White humanities bachelor’s degree holders and 87% of Hispanic humanities bachelor’s degree holders reported they were satisfied, only 79% of Black bachelor’s degree holders did. The same relatively low rate of satisfaction was found among Asian American humanities majors. Black and Asian American humanities majors were also less likely to be satisfied with their job than were Black and Asian American college graduates generally. (See the supplemental tables for information about the other major academic fields.)
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Racial/ethnic disparities were more pronounced when it came to the share of humanities majors who were “very” satisfied with their work (Indicator III-10e). Black, Asian, and Hispanic graduates from the humanities were substantially less likely to indicate they were very satisfied with their jobs than their White counterparts, 45% of whom were very satisfied, compared to only 30% of Black majors and 33% and 36% of Asian and Hispanic majors respectively. (For information about other major academic fields, see the supplemental tables.)
* May hold one or more advanced degree in the humanities or another field.
Source: National Science Foundation, 2019 National Survey of College Graduates. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
Conducted every two years, the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) gathers detailed education, occupation, and earnings information from a sample of individuals drawn from the larger pool of all those identified via the American Community Survey as holders of a baccalaureate degree. The National Science Foundation makes NSCG data available to researchers and the general public via downloadable data files and its online data analysis tool, SESTAT. Given the size of the NSCG sample, reliable estimates are available only for broad academic fields. For the NSCG disciplinary categories included in each of the field-of-degree categories employed by the Humanities Indicators, see the provided crosswalk. The categories for level of satisfaction in the survey were “very satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “somewhat dissatisfied,” and “very dissatisfied.”
Source: National Science Foundation, 2019 National Survey of College Graduates. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
Conducted every two years, the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) gathers detailed education, occupation, and earnings information from a sample of individuals drawn from the larger pool of all those identified via the American Community Survey as holders of a baccalaureate degree. The National Science Foundation makes NSCG data available to researchers and the general public via downloadable data files and its online data analysis tool, SESTAT. Given the size of the NSCG sample, reliable estimates are available only for broad academic fields. For the NSCG disciplinary categories included in each of the field-of-degree categories employed by the Humanities Indicators, see the provided crosswalk. The categories for level of satisfaction in the survey were “very satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “somewhat dissatisfied,” and “very dissatisfied.”
* May also hold one or more advanced degree in the humanities or another field. For a comparison of the humanities with other academic fields, see the supplemental tables.
Source: National Science Foundation, 2019 National Survey of College Graduates. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
Conducted every two years, the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) gathers detailed education, occupation, and earnings information from a sample of individuals drawn from the larger pool of all those identified via the American Community Survey as holders of a baccalaureate degree. The National Science Foundation makes NSCG data available to researchers and the general public via downloadable data files and its online data analysis tool, SESTAT. Given the size of the NSCG sample, reliable estimates are available only for broad academic fields. For the NSCG disciplinary categories included in each of the field-of-degree categories employed by the Humanities Indicators, see the provided crosswalk. The categories for level of satisfaction in the survey were “very satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “somewhat dissatisfied,” and “very dissatisfied.”
* May also hold one or more advanced degrees (in any field). For a comparison of the humanities with other academic fields, see the supplemental tables.
Source: National Science Foundation, 2019 National Survey of College Graduates. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
Conducted every two years, the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) gathers detailed education, occupation, and earnings information from a sample of individuals drawn from the larger pool of all those identified via the American Community Survey as holders of a baccalaureate degree. The National Science Foundation makes NSCG data available to researchers and the general public via downloadable data files and its online data analysis tool, SESTAT. Given the size of the NSCG sample, reliable estimates are available only for broad academic fields. For the NSCG disciplinary categories included in each of the field-of-degree categories employed by the Humanities Indicators, see the provided crosswalk. The categories for level of satisfaction in the survey were “very satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “somewhat dissatisfied,” and “very dissatisfied.”
* May also hold one or more advanced degrees in the humanities or another field. For a comparison of the humanities with other academic fields, see the supplemental tables.
Source: National Science Foundation, 2019 National Survey of College Graduates. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
Conducted every two years, the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) gathers detailed education, occupation, and earnings information from a sample of individuals drawn from the larger pool of all those identified via the American Community Survey as holders of a baccalaureate degree. The National Science Foundation makes NSCG data available to researchers and the general public via downloadable data files and its online data analysis tool, SESTAT. Given the size of the NSCG sample, reliable estimates are available only for broad academic fields. For the NSCG disciplinary categories included in each of the field-of-degree categories employed by the Humanities Indicators, see the provided crosswalk. The categories for level of satisfaction in the survey were “very satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “somewhat dissatisfied,” and “very dissatisfied.”
