A new study from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences challenges the myth of the underemployed, unhappy humanities graduate. The study analyzed data from the U.S. Census and other government sources, plus Gallup polling of workers nationwide. In contrast to stereotypes about humanities majors, the study reveals that workers with BA degrees in the humanities had a very low unemployment rate– just 4.3% in 2015. The unemployment rate was even lower for those with advanced degrees. Job satisfaction scores for workers with humanities degrees are comparable to those for workers in every other field the study examined.
An essay by William D. Adams, senior fellow at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, accompanies the study.
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