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While debates about the economic value of college degrees tend to focus on the undifferentiated category of “humanities majors,” it is important to distinguish between those who hold only a bachelor’s degrees (designated here as “terminal bachelor’s holders” or TBHs) and holders of bachelor’s degrees who go on to obtain an advanced degree, because the workforce outcomes of the two groups differ significantly. The indicators below examine the types of jobs held by graduates with bachelor’s degrees in the humanities who went on to earn advanced degrees. The advanced degree may or may not be in the humanities (available data do not indicate the field of the postbaccalaureate degree; see the relevant items on recipients of master’s and doctoral degrees for the occupations of those with advanced degrees in particular fields). A key finding is that workers who started their studies in the humanities were more evenly distributed across occupational categories than advanced degree holders (ADHs) who majored in virtually any other field, suggesting that students with a humanities education are equipped to pursue a range of vocations.1

Endnotes

  • 1In 2021, 42% of humanities majors possessed at least one advanced degree. For information regarding the occupational distribution of all humanities majors, irrespective of subsequent education, see the supplemental table.

III-03a: Occupational Distribution of Advanced Degree Holders with an Undergraduate Degree in the Humanities,* 2021

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* Currently employed workers. Reported jobs are those respondents currently held or the last they worked. Respondents who worked more than one job at a time were asked to report the job at which they worked the most hours. Advanced degree may be in any field.
** Includes education administrators, teaching assistants, tutors, school psychologists, and workers categorized by the U.S. Census Bureau as “other teachers and instructors.”
† Encompasses military-specific occupations and those in production, transportation, and material moving; construction, extraction, maintenance, and repair; sports; and farming, fishing, and forestry. For further details regarding the occupations included in each category used in the graph, see the
ACS-HI Crosswalk.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2021 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

The information presented here on the occupations of college graduates who majored in the humanities is based on an original analysis by the Humanities Indicators (HI) of data from the American Community Survey (ACS), which has been administered on an annual basis by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2005. The ACS replaced the “long form” version of the decennial census and collects information—used to allocate billions in state and federal funding—about Americans’ personal characteristics, family composition, employment, income, and housing.

The ACS permits respondents to specify up to two fields of bachelor’s degree. For the purposes of this analysis, an individual was counted as having a bachelor’s degree in the humanities if the field of either reported degree was within the scope of the humanities as specified by the HI.

Information regarding the occupations included in each category in the graph and specific degree programs grouped under each broad field heading is provided in the
ACS-HI Crosswalk.

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* Currently employed workers. Respondents who worked more than one job at a time were asked to report the job at which they worked the most hours. Advanced degree may be in any field.
** Includes education administrators, teaching assistants, tutors, school psychologists, and workers categorized by the U.S. Census Bureau as “other teachers and instructors.”
† Encompasses military-specific occupations and those in production, transportation, and material moving; construction, extraction, maintenance, and repair; sports; and farming, fishing, and forestry. For further details regarding the occupations included in each category used in the graph, see the
ACS-HI Crosswalk.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2021 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

The information presented here on the occupations of college graduates who majored in the humanities is based on an original analysis by the Humanities Indicators (HI) of data from the American Community Survey (ACS), which has been administered on an annual basis by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2005. The ACS replaced the “long form” version of the decennial census and collects information—used to allocate billions in state and federal funding—about Americans’ personal characteristics, family composition, employment, income, and housing.

The ACS permits respondents to specify up to two fields of bachelor’s degree. For the purposes of this analysis, an individual was counted as having a bachelor’s degree in the humanities if the field of either reported degree was within the scope of the humanities as specified by the HI.

Information regarding the occupations included in each category in the graph and specific degree programs grouped under each broad field heading is provided in the
ACS-HI Crosswalk.

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