Yet another reason to laud the invention of the Internet. It makes getting career information easier. In this case, the American Historical Association (AHA) has just released some new job market data that deal with the availability of jobs for PhDs in history:
Graduate students traveling to Washington for job interviews at the annual meeting do not necessarily have the odds in their favor. That’s because history departments continue to produce more Ph.D.’s in some areas (American and European history) than there are jobs in those subfields, while not producing enough Ph.D.’s to match demand in some areas.
Full story here from Inside Higher Ed.
When I was an undergrad in sociology information like this was hard to come by. You don’t really hear about the job market for humanities, social science and liberal arts fields until you are immersed in that world–which most likely means grad school.
Of course, as a young liberal arts major, one of the chief options in one’s mind is grad school and possibly making a career out of the field of study you love. That is why studies like the AHA’s is so important — to give prospective graduate students a reality check of the job market they face if they choose to enter the Liberal Arts as a career field and profession.
Here’s a couple of excellent blog posts about the grad school question from Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist blog.
