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Job Satisfaction among Graduate Degree Holders, by Field and Level of Highest Degree, 201933

Despite their lower earnings, humanities graduate degree holders were just about as likely to express satisfaction with their jobs as their counterparts in other fields, with approximately 90% of master’s and PhD recipients describing themselves as at least somewhat satisfied with their employment.

Recipients of graduate degrees in the humanities were, however, somewhat less likely to report they were very satisfied with their jobs than their counterparts from other fields. The gap was wider among PhDs, where just 43% were very satisfied with their jobs, compared to 51% among PhDs generally. With a rate of 59%, PhDs in the behavioral and social sciences were the most likely to be very satisfied with their jobs. (For details regarding the share of “very satisfied” for each degree level and field, please see the data tables posted here.)34

Endnotes

• 33The satisfaction shares depicted in this and all subsequent graphs include workers indicating they were “somewhat” or “very” satisfied.
• 34National Science Foundation, National Survey of College Graduates.