Occupations of Humanities Ph.D.'s
- In 2019, 61% of recently employed humanities Ph.D.’s (employed full- or part-time at any point in the previous five years) taught at the postsecondary level as their principal job, which was more than double the share for doctoral degree recipients generally (27%; Indicator III-22a). Only health and medical sciences Ph.D.’s were concentrated to the same degree in one occupation, with 59% of their recently employed Ph.D.’s in healthcare jobs (Indicator III-22b).
- The occupational distribution of recently employed Ph.D. holders did not differ substantially by gender in 2019 (findings not visualized). The most marked difference in occupation between the genders was in library and museum occupations, with women more likely than men to hold such positions (12% of women as compared to 5% of men).
- Disaggregation by race/ethnicity is not possible because of the small number of humanities Ph.D.’s in the sample and the fact that traditionally minoritized racial ethnic/groups are underrepresented among humanities Ph.D.’s.
* Employed at any time (full- or part-time) in the previous five years.
**See the provided crosswalk for information regarding the occupations included in this category.
† Excludes holders of the D.D.S., D.V.M., M.D., and other nonresearch degrees.
Source: National Science Foundation, 2019 National Survey of College Graduates. Data analyzed and presented by the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences’ Indicators ().
Since the humanities were dropped from the biennial (SDR) in 1995, the National Science Foundation’s (NSCG) is the only source of nationally representative data on the occupations and earnings of humanities Ph.D.’s. Conducted every two years, the NSCG gathers detailed education, occupation, and earnings information from a sample of individuals drawn from the larger pool of all those people identified via the American Community Survey (ACS) as holders of a baccalaureate degree. The foundation makes NSCG data available to researchers and the general public via downloadable data files and its online data analysis tool, . 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, which also indicates the types of jobs that are included in each of the broad occupational categories used for this analysis.
These occupation-related indicators are based on NSCG data, but similar items included in the Humanities Indicators rely on data from the ACS. Due to marked differences in how NSCG and ACS classify academic fields and occupations, the contents of the field-of-degree and occupational categories used for this indicator are not identical to those used for the ACS-based Indicators III-03a, 03b, and 05b. (For more information on the contents of the categories used for the ACS analysis, see the pertinent crosswalk.)
Another key difference between these indicators and the ACS-based occupation-related indicators is that the Ph.D. holders considered here are those whose doctoral degree was in the humanities, irrespective of the field of their undergraduate and any master’s degree. The ACS does not collect data about the fields in which advanced degrees were earned. The ACS-based indicators thus describe the occupational distribution of undergraduate humanities majors who went on to pursue an advanced degree, regardless of the field of that degree.
* Employed at any time (full- or part-time) in the previous five years. Excludes holders of the D.D.S., D.V.M., M.D., and other nonresearch degrees.
** See the provided crosswalk for information regarding the occupations included in this category.
Source: National Science Foundation, 2019 National Survey of College Graduates. Data analyzed and presented by the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences’ Indicators ().
Since the humanities were dropped from the biennial (SDR) in 1995, the National Science Foundation’s (NSCG) is the only source of nationally representative data on the occupations and earnings of humanities Ph.D.’s. Conducted every two years, the NSCG gathers detailed education, occupation, and earnings information from a sample of individuals drawn from the larger pool of all those people identified via the American Community Survey (ACS) as holders of a baccalaureate degree. The foundation makes NSCG data available to researchers and the general public via downloadable data files and its online data analysis tool, . 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, which also indicates the types of jobs that are included in each of the broad occupational categories used for this analysis.
These occupation-related indicators are based on NSCG data, but similar items included in the Humanities Indicators rely on data from the ACS. Due to marked differences in how NSCG and ACS classify academic fields and occupations, the contents of the field-of-degree and occupational categories used for this indicator are not identical to those used for the ACS-based Indicators III-03a, 03b, and 05b. (For more information on the contents of the categories used for the ACS analysis, see the pertinent crosswalk.)
Another key difference between these indicators and the ACS-based occupation-related indicators is that the Ph.D. holders considered here are those whose doctoral degree was in the humanities, irrespective of the field of their undergraduate and any master’s degree. The ACS does not collect data about the fields in which advanced degrees were earned. The ACS-based indicators thus describe the occupational distribution of undergraduate humanities majors who went on to pursue an advanced degree, regardless of the field of that degree.
