Humanities Indicators


The Humanities Indicators is a project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences that equips researchers and policymakers, universities, foundations, museums, libraries, humanities councils and other public institutions with statistical tools for answering basic questions about primary and secondary humanities education, undergraduate and graduate education in the humanities, the humanities workforce, levels and sources of program funding, public understanding and impact of the humanities, and other areas of concern in the humanities community.
Data from the Humanities Indicators has been widely discussed in recent conversations about a "crisis in the humanities", in light of a national decline in the number of college majors. To address questions about the workforce outcomes of humanities graduates, the Indicators issued , which examined not only their employment and earnings relative to other fields, but also graduates’ satisfaction with their work after graduation and their lives more generally. The data reveal that despite disparities in median earnings, humanities majors are quite similar to graduates from other fields with respect to their perceived well-being. The report was widely cited in the media as an important intervention in the discussion.