Careers
Career Virtual Forum 2020
We held a conversation with five former anthropology majors who have gone to successful careers in diverse fields, from business consulting, law, environmental management, finance, and business startups, and academia.
What you can do with an Anthropology degree
- Anthropology Careers, a comprehensive starting point from NKU
- Anthropologists at Work: Responses to Student Questions about Anthropology Careers, from the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology
Additional articles
- Anthropologists on the Job, an article from the Christian Science Monitor
- Anthropologists go Native in the Corporate Village, from Fast Company
- Coming of Age in Palo Alto: Anthropologists Find a Niche Studying Consumers, from the New York Times
- Hot Asset in Corporate: Anthropology degrees, from USA Today
Online careers center
2017 Survey of Past Anthropology Majors
Markus Eberl (with the help of Brian McCray), August 23, 2018.
Summary:
- Anonymous Spring 2017 survey of past anthropology graduates with quantitative and qualitative questions regarding the following goals: (1) understanding the professional situation of anthropology graduates; (2) getting their assessment of the anthropology program’s usefulness. 44 anthropology graduates who majored between 2006 and 2016 responded to the survey (out of 226). Vanderbilt’s anthropology program has changed since 2006 and the responses of anthropology graduates may not reflect these changes.
- 84.1% are employed, 13.6% pursue a higher degree, only 2.3% (1 person) are unemployed
- Their annual salaries approximate the median income in the US, showing little evidence that anthropology graduates end up in low-paying jobs
- Almost all work outside anthropology (the exceptions are a CRM archaeologist and an anthropology teacher); yet, half say that their job requires anthropology skills
- Graduates highlight the following skills
- Job-specific: e.g., physical anthropology for healthcare jobs
- General skills: academic writing and speaking; critical thinking / scientific method; cultural sensitivity; understanding (company) cultures
- Almost all would major in anthropology again and would recommend it as a major to current students