The Truth About Academic History

The job front is rather discouraging for those pursuing careers as professors of History. Will it change? Some say that retirements will change the possibilities for Ph.D.'s in History. There are also those that say one should start thinking about other avenues. A typical assistant professor opportunity at a college or university receives around 300 applicants. And, for community college jobs it used to be that all one needed was a master's degree and a desire to teach, but not any more. Community Colleges can expect to hire a Ph.D., turning away not only M.A.'s but also other Ph.D.'s. This trend has meant that many Ph.D.'s must look outside of academia for employment. For some this has been to the field of public history. As a result, Ph.D. programs in public history have been springing up. Unfortunately, no one tells you when you are entering graduate school, particularly Ph.D. programs, just how the market really is. Often false hope leads many into graduate school with no knowledge that they will likely end up with no academic job, forcing them to make a last minute search for something to pay the bills. Even worse, beyond the six or so years to get the Ph.D., many are left with huge loans that they cannot repay-- bankruptcy. In a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, an English doctoral student at Harvard University writes, in "Building a Secondary Career" http://chronicle.com/jobs/v45/i29/4529pe... that an academic career is like being a writer or artist. It is great if you can make money but often you have to take a money-making job outside of your desired occupation. In the article William Pannapacker writes, "Rather than quietly opening the field to a new crop of exploited apprentices, a secondary career allows one to remain a scholar and a teacher on one's own terms." While Pannapacker is a Ph.D. candidate in English, not History, the same is true of both fields. Unfortunately, many academics are having to compete for exploitative adjunct jobs, meaning they either need a part time or full time money-making job to stay alive. So, the question is, who are those lucky few who actually get the opportunity to become a college professor? Those with the best chance go to big-name schools and although it may seem jaded and strange coming from a woman, to be truthful, women have a greater chance of obtaining an academic job. Academia has been dominated by white males for so long that it is now imperative for departments to diversify. It is also crucial that once on the market you have publications behind you, therefore, while in graduate school you must try to publish along with completing your course work. And, never choose such a specified field where you could only hope to fit one job description. Watch trends in academic jobs and choose your fields based on those trends. The advice to be taken is, if you are going to graduate school in the hopes of gaining a job teaching in academia, go to the best possible school and choose your fields wisely. So, what do you do if your intention is to go to graduate school to further study a topic you love no matter how narrow? Or, what if you have no desire to play the academic game? There are other avenues for those with graduate degrees in History. If the desire is still to teach, one might look to secondary education for employment opportunities. What you must decide is why you want to be a professor in the first place. There are many avenues for people with a love for History. While there is teaching, public history, publishing, and government work are all possibilities. Get a job as a government historian, an archivist, an editor, a community historian. Just realize that they are options outside of academia.

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