State of the Humanities 2022: From Graduate Education to the Workforce

Academic Job Openings Listed with Scholarly Societies in the Humanities, by Discipline, 2002–2020

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Humanities Indicators
 

Academic Job Openings Listed with Scholarly Societies in the Humanities, by Discipline, 2002–2020


Given the major role academia has played as an employer of humanities PhDs, the state of the academic job market is a key measure of the condition of graduate education in the field. Data from the scholarly societies that publish most of the tenure-line job openings in the field report that after the 2007–2008 academic year, job listings fell by 36% or more within two years in every discipline except philosophy (which experienced a drop of approximately a quarter). While some disciplines experienced modest increases in subsequent years, as of the 2019–2020 academic year, the numbers of jobs listed with the societies had still declined by 39% (in classical studies) to 60% (in English) from their peaks.18

Project
Humanities Indicators
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Share of New Doctorate Recipients in Humanities and Arts with a Definite Commitment of Employment or Postdoctoral Study, 1990–2020
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Share of New Doctorate Recipients with a Definite U.S. Employment Commitment Entering an Academic Job, by Field of Degree, 1988–2020
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Endnotes

  • 18Classical Studies: Classical Studies Association, Placement Services Reports. History: Dylan Ruediger, “The 2021 AHA Job Report,” Perspectives on History (January 2021). Languages: MLA Office of Research, Tables and Figures on the MLA Job List, 2019–20. Philosophy: American Philosophical Association, “Number of Jobs Published by Year.” Religion: Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion, “Job Advertisement Data 2019–2020.”