Early Careers of Undergraduate Humanities Majors

What is Your Degree Worth? The Relationship Between Post–Secondary Programs and Employment Outcomes

“…Examining the differential impact of postsecondary programs on graduate employment is a vital topic of concern. Popular media and empirical research both criticize the ability of humanities programs to provide graduates with related employment (Barrow, 2011;Hoolihan, 2011;Lacey & Crosby, 2005;Richards, 1984;Robst, 2007;Sharp, 1970;Sharp & Weidman, 1986). Our study extends previous findings to a cross-national Canadian context, and highlights not only the impact of postsecondary programs on job relatedness but also demonstrates the impact of postsecondary programs on job qualification, employment status, and plans to pursue higher education.…”

“…Popular media, such as the Huffington Post (Hoolihan, 2011) and Britain's Daily Mail Online (Barrow, 2011) have deemed humanities-based programs (e.g., history, philosophy, religion) as inept at promoting related employment. Empirical research supports these claims by demonstrating that humanities graduates are more likely to have difficulty finding related employment compared to science, engineering, business, nursing, and education graduates (Lacey & Crosby, 2005;Richards, 1984;Robst, 2007;Sharp, 1970;Sharp & Weidman, 1986). As a consequence, uncertainty in future income and job stability may also pressure humanities graduates to pursue higher education or additional training to increase their employment and income prospects (Kodde, 1986).…”

“…These hypotheses were based on the rationale that humanities programs are more likely to provide generic skills that are not in economic demand and that they encourage higher education pursuits to increase employment prospects. In contrast, nonhumanities-based programs are more likely to provide specialized skills that are applicable to specific occupations and are increasingly valued in the current job market (Lacey & Crosby, 2005;Richards, 1984;Robst, 2007;Sharp, 1970;Sharp & Weidman, 1986).…”

Collegiate Grading Practices and the Gender Pay Gap

“…As strong quantitative skills are scarce relative to strong verbal skills, quantitative skills are compensated at a higher rate in the labor market than are verbal skills. Recent studies indicate earnings advantages over comparison groups of humanities and education majors of 23% to 61% for engineers, up to 25% for business majors, 13% to 35% for students of mathematics and the physical sciences, and 8% to 24% for social scientists (Angle & Wissmann, 1981;Berger, 1992;Bishop, 1994;Daymont & Andrisani, 1984;Eide, 1994;Griffin & Alexander, 1978;James & Alsalam, 1993;Rumberger & Thomas, 1993;Sharp & Weidman, 1989). When students are influenced by divergent grading practices to invest in verbal skills rather than in quantitative skills, the supply of verbal skills provided by college graduates to the labor market increases over the supply of graduates who would have made this choice, given their aptitudes and interests, under uniform grading practices.…”

“…Women entering fields requiring quantitative skills can expect a greater return on their educational investments, because such skills are a relatively scarce human capital input (Paglin & Rufolo, 1990). Numerous studies have demonstrated that, all else equal, college graduates with quantitative skills will earn more than their counterparts without such skills (Berger, 1992;Eide, 1994;James & Alsalam, 1993;Rumberger & Thomas, 1993;Sharp & Weidman, 1989). However, women continue to be disproportionately represented in the humanities and social sciences and underrepresented in mathematics and the applied and physical sciences (National Center for Education Statistics, 1997).…”