Occupational Distribution of Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Holders, by Highest Degree, 2015

The distribution of occupations of humanities bachelor’s degree holders who went on to earn an advanced degree differs substantially from that of their counterparts with terminal degrees. Among those whose highest degree is a bachelor’s (59% of humanities graduates as of 2015), almost a third were employed in office, sales, and service jobs, as compared to 10% of those with advanced degrees.

Among humanities graduates with terminal bachelor’s degrees, 14% were employed in management positions. In contrast, among those who had gone on to advanced degrees (in any field), almost a third were employed in education (with the largest share in postsecondary education), with another 13% employed in the legal profession and 11% in management positions.1

Endnotes

• 1U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample.