Blog XXVI (26): Jobs for the History Ph.D.

There are a whole host of issues in the history profession. Most of the intellectual issues get fairly decent coverage and discussion in academic journals and seminars. The biggest issue in the profession, though, is the fact that the supply of people with Ph.D.s in history vastly exceeds the demand for them, which is to say, jobs. Most graduate history programs train their students to expect jobs at like institutions. The problem is that those jobs just are not there.

So, what is the history Ph.D. to do? Well, they need to look for jobs that are a little different from becoming an assistant professor in some history department. Getting these positions is often up to the lone individual.

With those considerations in mind, the next few essays in this blog will focus on some of the options open to the new history Ph.D. outside of a history department. Many of these blog entries will be written by “guest columnists” and some will be the product of—for lack of a better phrase—journalistic reporting.