Исследователи истории готовы уйти из академии из-за кризиса рынка труда

Sixth-year History Ph.D. candidate Xi Min Ling said he is ready to walk away from academia after completing his doctorate in history. “There are really still valid reasons for doing a humanities Ph.D.,” Ling said. “It’s just that getting a job is not one of them.” Humanities Ph.D. students face a historically challenging job market in academia, and the number of NU students landing tenure-track positions has declined, reflecting a nationwide trend. While some remain undeterred by dimming career prospects, others are resorting to non-academic pursuits. According to data shared with The Daily by The Graduate School and Northwestern Career Advancement, most NU graduates receiving doctoral degrees in the humanities secure jobs in academia. Among the group, 75.7% initially landed an academic position in 2025, only a 6.2% decrease from 2020. This was calculated based on available placement data during this period, which represents 87% of the University’s humanities Ph.D. graduates. However, students often struggle to secure tenure-track positions, career paths for university professors that usually lead to permanent employment status. NU’s initial academic placement data revealed that only 18% of humanities Ph.D. graduates landed tenure-track jobs from 2020 to 2025. This was a significant decrease compared to the 30% from 2010 to 2015. “It’s also part of a larger historical movement in which humanities employment opportunities have been squeezed over the past decade,” Ling said. Some students instead land non-tenure-track positions, such as adjunct faculty positions, research appointments and academic administration jobs. These positions can be less desirable for students, since they are often bound by short-term contracts with lower pay. Because non-tenured positions may be vulnerable to budget cuts, they also lack the job security of tenured positions, especially amid decreased federal research funding. For doctoral students in NU’s history department, the initial placement rate into tenure-track positions was just 12% from 2015 to 2025. John Pollard, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in history, left his previous job as a high school teacher to pursue an academic career despite the increasingly competitive job market. “It wouldn’t surprise me if early on, out of grad school, I have to start being an adjunct somewhere,” Pollard said. As he prepares to apply for academic jobs in the final year of his Ph.D., Pollard said he has attended career preparation events hosted by the history department, workshopping his resume and research statements with the help of NU professors. TGS and NCA provide similar programming for professional and career development across various academic disciplines, including a Ph.D. and Postdoc Career Development Series and an Academic Job Market Preparation Workshop Series. Not all humanities doctoral students are hoping to eventually become professors, however. Ling, who has a wife and young son in Singapore, said he does not have the flexibility to pursue a postdoc position abroad and is considering a non-academic career to provide more financial security for his family. “Nowadays, I worry a bit more about ‘Does this put money on the table?’” Ling said. “I have mouths to feed.” But Ling said he has “no regrets” about pursuing his doctorate, adding that he has cultivated the research and writing skills necessary to one day write a book on his academic specialty, the postwar lives of Japanese World War II veterans. He said he believes that these skills are marketable and that he is not worried about his future career prospects. Similarly, Pollard said he is open to jobs outside academia, such as working at museums, historical societies and research libraries, where he said his research skills might be useful. A University spokesperson wrote in a July 30 statement to The Daily that NU is expanding opportunities for Ph.D. students seeking non-academic careers, including through employer site visits, industry panels and monthly industry spotlights. “Underpinning all these programs and resources is a deep commitment to individual advising, guidance, and mentorship provided by a network of faculty and staff throughout the University,” the spokesperson wrote. Email: [email protected] Related Stories: — Northwestern directs some graduate programs to cap class sizes, defer enrollments