presentation to dc higher education group on the state of the humanities

What We Are:

Summary information on the scope and vitality of the humanities.

Descriptive statistics.

Charting trends over time.

Policy neutral.

Regularly updated.

What We Cover:

Primary and Secondary Education: measures of achievement, course-taking, teachers

Undergraduate and Graduate Education: degree trends, preparedness, graduate school experience

The Humanities Workforce: employment, salaries and job satisfaction, postsecondary faculty

Humanities Funding and Research: federal, state, and private support for activities and academic research

The Humanities in American Life: skills, practices, and attitudes

The Power (and Danger) of Data

Bachelor’s Degree Completions in the Humanities, 1948–2011

Humanities Departmental Survey

Estimated Number of Departments in the Discipline, Fall 2007 and Fall 2012

Art Histo

ry

Combin

ed**

English

History

History

of Scie

nce

Lang

. & Lit

. Othe

r Tha

n Eng

l.†

Lingu

istics

Religion

Classic

al Stud

ies

Commun

ication

Folklor

e

Musicol

ogy

Philosop

hy0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

1,100

1,200

1,300

1,400

Fall 2007 Fall 2012

Dep

artm

ents

2007 Sample Population* Disciplines Only in 2012 Survey

Humanities Indicators, 2014 · American Academy of Arts & Sciences

2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12950

975

1,000

1,025

1,050

1,075

1,100

1,125

1,150

1,175

1,200

History English

Academic Year

Inst

itu

tio

ns

Co

nfe

rrin

g B

ach

elo

r's

Deg

rees

Humanities Indicators, 2014 · American Academy of Arts & Sci-ences

Number of Institutions Conferring Bachelor’s Degrees in History and English, Academic Years 2006–07 Through 2011–12

Number of Advertised Job Openings at AHA and MLA, 1970–71 to 2012–13

2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-140

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

History Ads

English Ads

Foreign Language Ads

All Disc

ipline

s

Art Histo

ry

Classic

al Stud

ies

Commun

ication

English

History

Lang

. & Lit

. Othe

r Tha

n Eng

l.

Lingu

istics

Musicol

ogy

Philosop

hy

Religion

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

All Institutions Public Private

Per

cen

t


Percentage of Humanities Departments Ceasing to Grant Degrees at Some Level, Fall 2007–Fall 2012

Students

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

Total Majors 2006–07

Total Majors 2011–12

Discipline

Dec

lare

d M

ajo

rs



Estimated Number of Juniors and Seniors with a Declared Major in the Humanities, by Discipline, Academic Years 2006–07 and 2011–12

Share of All Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded in Field, 1987–2013

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Business & Man-agement

Natural Sciences

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Humanities

Education and Social Service Professions

Engineering

Arts

Per

cen

t


Average Number of Bachelor’s Degrees Conferred (AY 2011–12) and Juniors and Seniors with Declared Majors in Discipline per Humanities Department (Fall 2012)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Bachelor’s Degree Recipients, 2011–12

Juniors and Seniors with Declared Major, Fall 2012

BA

Rec

ipie

nts

/Maj

ors

(A

vera

ge

per

Dep

artm

ent)


Humanities Bachelor’s Degrees Earned as “Second Majors,” 2001–2013

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 201310,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

20,000

22,000

24,000

26,000

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Number of Bachelor's Degrees Earned as "Second Majors"

Percentage of All Second Majors

"Sec

on

d M

ajo

r" H

um

anit

ies

Deg

rees

Ear

ned


0

Median College Credits Earned in Selected Subjects, by Student Major

Humanities (in-cluding History)

Engineering Biological & Physical Sciences

Computer Science

Business Social Sciences Education All Majors0

20

40

60

80

100

120

47

1519 18 18

2724 22

11

98

73

60

15 15 15 1718

916

1218

60

21 20

HumanitiesSTEMBehavioral & Social Sciences

Student Major

Nor

mal

ized

Cre

dits


Credits earned in all sub-jects (median):

127

Occupational Distribution of Holders of Terminal Bachelor's Degrees in the Humanities, 2012

113.5%

2a7.9%

2b1.3%

2c3.4%

39.4%

48.9%

53.0%

62.8%

72.5%

81.6%

91.3%

100.7%

Secretaries & Administrative Assistants3.1%

Customer Service Representatives2.1%

Other Office &Admin. Support

9.7%

First Line Supervisors3.0%

Retail Salespersons3.0%

Other Sales7.1%

Food Service3.3%

Other Service6.2%

6.4%

Management, Professional, & Related 1 Management 2a Education—Precollegiate Teaching 2b Education—Postsecondary Teaching 2c Education—Other 3 Arts, Design, Media, & Entertainment 4 Business & Financial Operations 5 Computer 6 Community & Social Services 7 Healthcare 8 Legal 9 Sciences & Engineering 10 Other Management & Professional

Office & Administrative Support

Sales Service

Other**

113.5%

2a7.9%

2b1.3%

2c3.4%

39.4%

48.9%

53.0%

62.8%

72.5%

81.6%

91.3%

100.7%

Secretaries & Administrative Assistants3.1%

Customer Service Representatives2.1%

Other Office &Admin. Support

9.7%

First Line Supervisors3.0%

Retail Salespersons3.0%

Other Sales7.1%

Food Service3.3%

Other Service6.2%

6.4%

Management, Professional, & Related 1 Management 2a Education—Precollegiate Teaching 2b Education—Postsecondary Teaching 2c Education—Other 3 Arts, Design, Media, & Entertainment 4 Business & Financial Operations 5 Computer 6 Community & Social Services 7 Healthcare 8 Legal 9 Sciences & Engineering 10 Other Management & Professional


Sales Service

Other**

Occupational Distribution of Advanced Degree Holders with Undergraduate Degrees in the Humanities, 2012

1a14.4%

1b10.8%

1c5.5%

213.8%

310.4%

46.5%

56.4%

65.7%

75.1%

82.9%

91.8%

102.5%

4.9%

4.3%

3.1%

2.0%

Management, Professional, & Related 1a Education—Precollegiate Teaching 1b Education—Postsecondary Teaching 1c Education—Other 2 Legal 3 Management 4 Community & Social Services 5 Business & Financial Operations 6 Healthcare 7 Arts, Design, Media & Entertainment 8 Sciences & Engineering 9 Computer 10 Other Management & Professional


Sales Service

Other**


1a14.4%

1b10.8%

1c5.5%

213.8%

310.4%

46.5%

56.4%

65.7%

75.1%

82.9%

91.8%

102.5%

4.9%

4.3%

3.1%

2.0%

Management, Professional, & Related 1a Education—Precollegiate Teaching 1b Education—Postsecondary Teaching 1c Education—Other 2 Legal 3 Management 4 Community & Social Services 5 Business & Financial Operations 6 Healthcare 7 Arts, Design, Media & Entertainment 8 Sciences & Engineering 9 Computer 10 Other Management & Professional


Sales Service

Other**


Faculty

Art Histo

ry

Combin

ed**

English

History

History

of Scie

nce

Lang

. & Lit

. Othe

r Tha

n Eng

l.†

Lingu

istics

Religion

Classic

al Stud

ies

Commun

ication

Folklor

e

Musicol

ogy

Philosop

hy0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

Fall 2007 Fall 2012

Discipline

Fac

ult

y M

emb

ers



Estimated Total Number of Humanities Faculty Members (Full- and Part-time), by Discipline, Fall 2007 and 2012

Numbers of Postsecondary Faculty Teaching in Humanities Disciplines, 1999–2012

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

English Language and Literature

Languages and Literatures Other than English

History

Philosophy and Religion

Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies

Fac

ult

y


Percentage Humanities Faculty Members Employed Part-time or Off the Tenure Track, by Discipline, Fall 2012

All Disc

iplin

es

Art Hist

ory

Class

ical S

tudi

es

Combi

ned*

*

Comm

unica

tion

Englis

h

Folkl

ore

Histor

y

Histor

y of S

cienc

e

Lang

. & L

it. Oth

er T

han

Engl.

Ling

uisti

cs

Mus

icolo

gy

Philo

soph

y

Relig

ion

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Part-Time

Off the Tenure Track

Discipline

Pe

rce

nt


Percentage of Students Taught by Non-tenure-track or Part-time Humanities Faculty Members, by Course Level and Discipline, Fall 2012

All Disc

iplines

Art Histo

ry

Classic

al Stud

ies

Combin

ed**

Communi

cation

English

Folklore

History

History

of Scie

nce

Lang.

& Lit. O

ther T

han Engl

.

Lingui

stics

Musicol

ogy

Philosop

hy

Religion

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Introductory Undergraduate Courses All Other Undergraduate Courses Graduate Courses

Pe

rce

nt


Percentage of Humanities Faculty Members Who are Women, by Discipline, Fall 2012

All Disc

ipline

s

Philos

ophy

Religio

n

Histor

y

Histor

y of

Scie

nce

Mus

icolog

y

Classic

al Stu

dies

Folklor

e

Comm

unica

tion

Lingu

istics

Englis

h

Combin

ed*

Art Hist

ory

Lang

. & L

it. O

ther

Tha

n Eng

l.0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Discipline

Per

cen

t


Percentage of Women at Each Tenure Status, by Discipline, Fall 2012

All Disc

ipline

s

Philosop

hy

Religion

History

Musicol

ogy

Classic

al Stud

ies

Folklor

e

Commun

ication

Lingu

istics

English

Combin

ed*

Art Histo

ry

Lang

. & Lit

. Othe

r Tha

n Eng

l.0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Tenured

Tenure-Track

Neither Tenured nor Tenure-Track

Per

cen

t


Percentage of Humanities Departments in Which Activity is an “Essential” or “Very Important” Consideration in Tenure Decisions

Publications (Research, Scholarship, and Creative

Work)

Teaching Service to the Department or Institution

Public Humanities*0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Primarily Undergraduate

Comprehensive

Primarily Research

Tenure Criterion

Pe

rce

nt


Engagement with Digital Humanities, Fall 2012

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%English DeptsForeign Language DeptsHistory DeptsReligion DeptsPhilosophy Depts


Percentage of Humanities Departments Offering Online Courses, by Carnegie Classification, Academic Year 2011–12

Fully Online Courses Hybrid Courses0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Primarily Undergraduate

Comprehensive

Primarily Research

Course Type

Per

cen

t


www.humanitiesindicators.org

And contact us with specific questions at:

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presentation to dc higher education group on the state of the humanities

Education

humanities bachelors

humanities workforce

humanities departmental

american life

terminal bachelors degrees

grant degrees

bachelors degree completions

estimated number of