Occupations of Master’s Degree Recipients in the Humanities
- In 2015, 37.3% of employed humanities master’s degree recipients worked in teaching positions, nearly twice the share of graduates from all fields combined (an additional 6% of humanities master’s degree holders were in nonteaching positions in education, as compared to 3% of those in all fields combined; Indicator III-21a). The difference was particularly great in postsecondary teaching, as almost 15% of humanities graduates were employed in the sector, compared to less than 4% of master’s and professional degree recipients generally.
- Outside of teaching, the largest share of humanities master’s degree recipients was found in management positions (11.1%). The next largest share of humanities master’s degree recipients (10.6%) was employed in arts and media occupations. Among master’s and professional degree holders in general, workers who were not employed as teachers were most likely to be working in management (15.6%) or healthcare (13.6%).
- The occupational distribution of master’s degree recipients in the humanities differed by gender (Indicator III-21b). Female degree holders were substantially more likely to hold office and administrative support jobs. Women were also somewhat more likely to be employed as postsecondary teachers. The occupations in which men most outnumbered women were service, community and social services, management, and computer, although the differences were not large.
III-21a: Occupational Distribution of Terminal Master’s and Professional Degree Holders,* Humanities and All Fields Combined, 2015
* Employed full- or part-time at any point in the previous five years.
** See the provided crosswalk for information regarding the occupations included in this category.
Source: National Science Foundation, 2015 National Survey of College Graduates. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
This indicator is based on data collected as part of the National Science Foundation’s National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG). 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 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, SESTAT. 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 which types of jobs 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 American Community Survey (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.) An even more important difference between these indicators and the ACS-based occupation-related indicators is that the master’s degree recipients considered here are those whose master’s degree was in the humanities (irrespective of the field of their undergraduate 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 advanced degrees, regardless of the field of the advanced degree.
III-21b: Occupational Distribution of Terminal Humanities Master’s Degree Holders,* by Gender, 2015
* Employed full- or part-time at any point in the previous five years.
** See the provided crosswalk for information regarding the occupations included in this category.
Source: National Science Foundation, 2015 National Survey of College Graduates. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
This indicator is based on data collected as part of the National Science Foundation’s National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG). 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 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, SESTAT. 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 which types of jobs 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 American Community Survey (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.) An even more important difference between these indicators and the ACS-based occupation-related indicators is that the master’s degree recipients considered here are those whose master’s degree was in the humanities (irrespective of the field of their undergraduate 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 advanced degrees, regardless of the field of the advanced degree.
