A Decline in Humanities: ...Doctorate students of color who are couched in humanities and liberal arts fields such as philosophy, communications, and ethnic studies could be especially impacted by college job cuts and hiring freezes.
Since humanities professions have not been strong revenue producers for most universities, they are often the first to get cut or scaled back during tough economic times. With universities emphasizing investments in jobs in the sciences, the growth of humanities fields might not keep pace with the number of doctorate graduates over the next few years.
Ronald L. Jackson, dean of the College of Media at the University of Illinois and the chair of the university’s African-American Studies department, says the outlook doesn’t look good for many doctorate students who are looking for jobs in specialized fields such as ethnic studies.
“From an African-American studies perspective, there are very few graduate programs,” Jackson says, adding that fewer specialized programs often means fewer faculty jobs. “Humanities will have somewhat of a decline because there's less funding and less opportunities for hiring.”
