Job Satisfaction of Humanities Ph.D. Recipients
- Humanities Ph.D. recipients had a job satisfaction rate similar to their counterparts in several other major fields, with 90% reporting they were satisfied with their jobs in 2019 (Indicator III-26a). This percentage was statistically indistinguishable from the share of Ph.D.’s generally who reported satisfaction with their work (91%). Humanities Ph.D.’s were, however, less likely than Ph.D.’s in general to be “very” satisfied, with only 43% of humanities doctoral degree recipients reporting this level of satisfaction, compared to 51% of all Ph.D. recipients (not pictured; information of this kind for other academic fields is available in the supplemental tables).
- Both academically employed humanities Ph.D.’s and their counterparts employed in other sectors reported high rates of job satisfaction (approximately 90% in both cases, similar to the rates observed among Ph.D.’s generally; Indicator III-26b). Only among health and medical sciences Ph.D.’s were the academically employed appreciably more likely than their counterparts in other sectors to be satisfied with their work. Among business Ph.D.’s, those employed outside the academy were somewhat more likely to be satisfied with their job.
- Comparisons by race/ethnicity and gender are not possible, due to the small number of humanities Ph.D.’s included in the National Survey of College Graduates (the data source on which the Humanities Indicators relies for its measures of job satisfaction) and the underrepresentation of traditionally minoritized racial/ethnic groups among humanities doctorate holders.
* The analysis excludes holders of the D.D.S., D.V.M., M.D., and other nonresearch degrees. Bachelors’ and/or master’s degree may be in a different academic 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.”
* The analysis excludes holders of the D.D.S., D.V.M., M.D., and other nonresearch degrees. A doctorate degree holder is considered employed in academia if they work for a two- or four-year college/university, medical school, or university research institute in any capacity. Bachelors’ and/or master’s degree may be in a different academic 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.”
