This post was written by Hatchet reporter Eva Palmer.
Some of the nation’s biggest humanities organizations reported a drop in jobs available over the last year, with hires in history departments falling 7.3 percent.
Fewer history jobs were available in higher education in 2013, after a two-year increase – which was still below levels before the 2008 recession, the American Historical Association reported.
The organization posted 686 jobs over the last school year, according to the data. That’s down from 1,064 history job listings in 2008.
The Modern Language Association and the American Economic Association also reported a drop in faculty job listings this year in English, foreign language and economic departments across the country.
The language association reported 1,142 English department jobs in 2013, about 100 fewer than 2012, while the AEA reported a 4.3 percent drop from 2013 to 2012.
The report does not include jobs not within the organization, which has begun urging PhD. candidates to plan for careers outside of higher education to have non-academic skills in addition to teaching and research skills.