Academic Job Openings Listed with Scholarly Societies in the Humanities, by Discipline, 2002–2020
Academic Job Openings Listed with Scholarly Societies in the Humanities, by Discipline, 2002–2020
![Figure-17_Job-Trends.png Figure-17_Job-Trends.png](/sites/default/files/styles/article_image_1x/public/Figure-17_Job-Trends.png.webp?itok=mNDPQR4m)
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
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.”