The Chronicle of Higher Education
Septemeber 4th, 2014
It’s hard out there for a historian. Once again, there were far fewer employment opportunities for history Ph.D.’s last academic year than the number of doctorates earned in the field, according to a report released on Wednesday by the American Historical Association.
It may not seem like a surprise; after all, the academic job market hasn’t exactly been sparkling in recent years. But after promising growth in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years, the number of positions advertised through the association took a downturn, and hasn’t yet recovered.
In fact, the newest report, published in the association’s newsmagazine, Perspectives on History, shows the number of advertised jobs has dropped for the second consecutive year. The data for 2013-14 show a 7-percent decrease from the previous year, and about a 14-percent decrease from 2011-12. (The numbers are far from the prerecession peak of 1,064 positions advertised in 2007-8.)