Jim Grossman and Anthony Grafton: Historians need to think about non-academic jobs
Grafton and Grossman cite data from the last year (and the last several years before that) in which more history Ph.D.s are entering the job market than there are tenure-track openings. Despite the talent of the new history Ph.D.s, "many of these students will not find tenure-track positions teaching history in colleges and universities," they write....
In interviews, Grossman and Grafton both acknowledged that they were seeking to change the way most professors and graduate students think.
"We're trying to say, 'Wake up. Times have changed. There are more opportunities and that's a good thing,'" said Grossman. "This is not about the negativity of wringing our hands and saying that there are no more jobs."
When some humanities leaders have talked about growing the non-academic job market for Ph.D.s, they have been criticized for focusing on issues other than the erosion of public support for higher education. Grossman said that he agrees that the erosion of public support is a significant problem that he would like to see addressed. And more public funds for higher education would produce more academic jobs, he said.
But he said that realism is needed. "I don't think the AHA has the political clout in the United States that facilitates universities' funding or not funding history departments. We do not command a lot of votes in state legislatures at this point," he said.
He added that one way historians might have more influence is if more of them enter the worlds of government and business. This isn't far-fetched, he said, noting that John A. Lawrence (chief of staff to Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives and current leader of House Democrats) and Newt Gingrich (another former speaker and current Republican presidential candidate) both hold history doctorates.
Historians also need to start framing their skills in ways that suggest the strengths they would bring to other fields, Grossman said, citing investment banking as "the perfect example" of a fit that many people don't think about. "You have people who as part of their occupation need to be able to assess how two companies will get along in a merger. What does that require? It requires exactly the same conceptual framework historians use when we think about structure, human agency and culture," he said....