The Humanities Indicators is a project of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
that provides statistical tools for answering questions about humanities education in the United States. Researchers use the Indicators to analyze primary and secondary humanities education, undergraduate and graduate education in the
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
, the humanities workforce, levels and sources of program funding, public understanding and impact of the humanities, and other areas of concern.
Data from the Humanities Indicators has been used in discussions about the US decline in the number of humanities college majors. To address questions about the workforce outcomes of humanities graduates, the Indicators issued reports on the ''State of the Humanities 2021: Workforce & Beyond''.
The Humanities Indicators report examined not only graduates'
employment
Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...
and earnings relative to other fields, but also their satisfaction with their work after graduation and their lives more generally. The data reveal that despite disparities in
median
The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...
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.
In 2019, the Humanities Indicators also administered the first national survey on public attitudes about the humanities, finding wide engagement with the field (though often under different names) and substantial support for the field.
References
External links
The Humanities Indicators, a project of the American AcademyScience and Engineering Indicators''State of the Humanities 2021: Workforce & Beyond''
Data
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