State of the Humanities 2022: From Graduate Education to the Workforce
Master’s Degrees Conferred in the Humanities, by Discipline, 1988–2020
Master’s Degrees Conferred in the Humanities, by Discipline, 1988–2020
![Figure-3_MA-Disciplines.png Figure-3_MA-Disciplines.png](/sites/default/files/styles/article_image_1x/public/Figure-3_MA-Disciplines.png.webp?itok=lP4VfwaF)
From 1988 to 2020, six humanities disciplines (area studies, communication, English language and literature, history, languages and literatures other than English, and study of the arts) conferred approximately three-fourths of the master’s and professional degrees awarded annually in the field. In all but two of those disciplines, the number of degrees conferred fell 21%–25% from 2012 to 2020. Collectively, the smaller disciplines experienced a somewhat larger decline (28%). Communication and study of the arts were the exception to the larger pattern of decline, as the number of master’s degrees earned in these disciplines increased by 3% and 7% respectively.3
Endnotes
- 3Ibid.