Context for the Careers of History PhDs

American Historical Association

September 8, 2014

Varying (and often Conflicting) Goals

• Quality of Preparation • preparing “first-rate” scholars regardless of outcomes?

• Placement Rates• Placing into Research I programs?

• Time to Degree• Reducing time in program to five years?

• Department Ranking• Emphasizing published output by faculty

• Lowered Attrition Rates

• Range of Career Preparation

History PhDs and Departments, 1901 to 2010

1901-10

1911-20

1921-30

1931-40

1941-50

1951-60

1961-70

1971-80

1981-90

1991-2000

2001-10

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

PhDs

Departments

Ph

D R

ecip

ien

ts

Dep

art

men

ts

Number of New History PhDs and Advertised Job Openings, 1970–71 to 2012–13

197

197

197

197

198

198

198

198

198

199

199

199

199

1999

...20

020

020

020

020

020

120

10

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

AHA Job Ads

History PhDs

Recruitment

Average Number of Applicants and Doctoral Students in History PhD Programs, 2006 to 2013

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Avg. # of Applicants

Avg. # of Doctoral Students

Average Number of Applications to PhD Programsin Conference, 2007 and 2012

CIC Schools Ivy League schools

Pac12 Schools SEC schools0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2007

2012

Average Number of Matriculations into PhD Programsin Conference, 2007 and 2012

CIC Ivy Pac12 SEC0

5

10

15

20

25

2007

2012

Diversity

History PhDs by Race/Ethnicity, 1995 to 2012

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

White, Non-Hispanic

Other/Unknown Races & Ethnicities

Black, Non-Hispanic

Hispanic

Asian or Pacific Is-lander

American Indian or Alaska Native

Humanities Indicators, 2014 · American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Bachelors Degree Recipients in History by Race/Ethnicity, 1995 to 2012

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

White, Non-Hispanic

Other/Unknown Races & Ethnicities

Black, Non-Hispanic

Hispanic

Asian or Pacific Is-lander

American Indian or Alaska Native

Humanities Indicators, 2014 · American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Women among History Degree Recipients, 1987 to 2012

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Doctorate Degrees

Bachelor's Degrees

Humanities Indicators, 2014 · American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Benchmarking Progress

Status of Previous Matriculants at Programs, 2012

5-year's after Matriculation 10-year's after Matriculation0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Completed

In Progress

Quit

Status Unknown

Approximate Track of a Doctoral Student Cohort over 10 Years

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 100%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Student

Transitional Employment

Tenure Track Appointment

NonAcademic Employment

Will Not Finish

Proportion of Students with Financial Support

CIC Ivy Pac12 SEC0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%PhD Students Receiving Fi-nancial Aid

PhD Students as TAs

Preparing Students for Careers

Institutional Priorities in Preparation of PhD Students, 2001

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

High Priority

Moderate

Low/Not a Priority

Areas of Employment for All History PhDs, 2013

2-Year Non-tenure Track3.1%

2-Year Tenure Track2.4%

4-Year Non-tenure Track14.7%

4-Year Tenure Track50.6%

Other Employment24.2%

Retired1.1%

Deceased1.1%

Not found2.8%

Movement of Graduates from Two History Doctoral Programs to Academic Employment in 2011

Movement between Conferences from History PhD to Job

CIC Ivy Pac12 SEC0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

CIC Ivy

Pac12 SEC

Employment of Recent History PhDs, by Conference, 2013

CIC Ivy Pac12 SEC0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2-Year NTT

2-Year TT

4-Year NTT

4-Year TT

Other Em-ployment

Academic Employment of History PhDs by Field, 2013

Research Univ. 4-Year 2-Year

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Tenure Track

Non-Tenure Track

Research Uni-versity

Other 4-Year 2-Year

Jobs for History PhDs Outside the Professoriate

Acade

mic

Admin

istra

tion

Busin

ess

Gover

nmen

t

Inde

pend

ent S

chol

ar

Libr

ary/M

useu

m/A

rchi

ve

Non-P

rofit

Publis

hing

/ Edi

ting

Resea

rche

r

Self-E

mpl

oyed

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5% Asia Latin America Europe North America

2-Year Administration; 0.2%

2-Year Nontenure Track; 4.0%

2-Year Tenure Track; 2.9%

4-year Administration; 3.5%

4-Year Nontenure Track; 15.4%

4-Year Tenure Track; 43.8%

Business; 2.9%

Deceased; 1.3% Federal Government; 3.2%

For-profit Admin or Faculty; 0.5%

Independent Scholar; 2.7%

K-12; 3.6%

Library/Museum/Archive; 2.0%

Non-Profit; 3.9%

Not found; 3.3%

Other; 0.4%

Publishing/ Editing; 0.8%

Researcher; 0.7%

Retired; 1.2%

Self-Employed; 2.5%

State/ Local Government; 1.2%

PhDs in the History of North America

The Job Picture for Two Specializations

2-Year Nontenure Track; 1.9%

2-Year Tenure Track; 0.6%

4-year Administration; 1.9%

4-Year Nontenure Track; 8.8%

4-Year Tenure Track; 65.4%

Business; 3.8%

Deceased; 1.9% Federal Government; 3.1%

Independent Scholar; 1.3%

K-12; 1.3%

Non-Profit; 2.5%

Not found; 1.3%

Publishing/ Editing; 1.3%

Researcher; 0.6%

Retired; 0.6%

Self-Employed; 2.5%

State/ Local Government; 1.3%

PhDs in Latin American History

Type of Employer of History PhDs, by NRC Ranking of Program

Top-Quartile 2nd Quartile 3rd Quartile 4th Quartile0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%Univ. w. High Research Activ-ity

Other Coll. or Univ.

Non-faculty Employment

Ranking of Program that Conferred Degree

Distribution of History PhDs Recipients by Subject and NRC Ranking of Program

Africa Asia Europe Latin America U.S.0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0% Top Rated

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

Bottom Rankings

Employment of History PhDs by Field Specialization, 2013

Research Univ. 4-Year 2-Year K-12 Other (Business/

Gov't)

Public History0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%Africa

Asia

Latin America

Europe

North Amer-ica

Field Specializations of Jobs and PhDs, 2012 and 2013

Africa Asia Latin America Middle East Europe North America0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Junior Faculty Openings, 2012-13

New PhDs, 2011-12

Digital History

Digital History in AHA Job Advertisements, 2003-04 to 2012–13

2003–04 2008-09 2011-12 2013-140

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

AHA Job Ads

Digital/New Media Jobs

Digital and New Media Historians in AHA Directory, 2014

Other Faculty and His-torians99.7%

Digital/New Media0.3%

Engagement with Digital Humanities, Fall 2012

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%History

Liberal Arts Colls

Comprehensive Coll. And Univs

Research Univs

Series5

All History Depts

English Depts

Foreign Language Depts

Religion Depts

Philosophy Depts

History Depts at…

Humanities Indicators, 2014 · American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Technology Activity of Historians by Age Cohort, 2010

Under 45 46 to 65 Over 650%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%Digital Humanist

Active User

Passive User

Avoider

Proportion of History Depts. Offering Online Courses, 2012-13

Fully Online Courses Hybrid Courses0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Liberal Arts CollegesMaster's Coll. and Univ'sResearch UniversitiesSeries4Public Coll. and Univ'sPrivate Coll. and Univ's

Humanities Indicators, 2014 · American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Future Issues

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

0.0%

0.5%

1.0%

1.5%

2.0%

2.5%

3.0%

3.5%

AHA Job Ads

History as % of All Degrees

Job

Op

en

ing

s

All

Un

de

rgra

d D

eg

ree

s

Alignment of Jobs and Undergraduate Students

1970

-71

1972

–73

1974

–75

1976

–77

1978

–79

1980

–81

1982

–83

1984

–85

1986

–87

1988

–89

1990

–91

1992

–93

1994

–95

1996

–97

1998

–99

2000

–01

2002

–03

2004

–05

2006

–07

2008

-09

2010

-11

2012

-13

2014

-15

2016

-17

2018

-19

2020

-21

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

AHA Job Ads

Average Age

Jo

b O

pe

nin

gs

Av

era

ge

Ag

e

Alignment of Jobs and Demographics

Crucial Factors for Successful Reform

• Shared sense of purpose by the entire department

• Collective sense of responsibility

• Clear objectives

For additional data and information:

See the AHA web site at http://www.historians.org/info/AHA_Data.cfm

and visit my new home at http://HumanitiesIndicators.org

And feel free to e-mail me at rtownsend@amacad.org with questions.