Are the Humanities on the Ropes? Maybe Not

Commentators have lamented the dwindling number of students majoring in the humanities, which are viewed by their scholars as the anchor of liberal-arts education. However, the picture may not be that bleak.

Consider the number of bachelor’s degrees: Those awarded in English and history, as a percentage of all degrees awarded in any discipline, fell by more than half from 1967 to 1987. But the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the humanities has grown faster since 1987 than the number in other fields, increasing humanities’ market share--from about 10 percent that year to 12 percent in 2008.

Taking a closer look at data collected by the U.S. Education Department over the past four decades, The Chronicle found that it’s difficult to draw firm conclusions about the ebb and flow of all humanities degrees. The Education Department began rigorous tracking of degrees by discipline only in the late 1980s. For earlier years, the department has not published consistent data for all fields in the humanities. Some of those data include numbers from other fields--for example, totals for art-history degrees were combined with those for the performing arts.

Decline After the ‘60s

It’s clear that market shares fell significantly for the largest humanities fields--English, foreign languages, and history--from 1967 to 1987. (The earlier year marked approximately the zenith of humanities enrollment, which had followed the rapid growth in college enrollment after World War II.) Perhaps mirroring students’ growing interest in well-paying jobs, the decline in the humanities’ market share was nearly matched by the gain for business and management degrees during that period.

Turnaround in the ‘80s

The humanities’ decline bottomed out in the late 1980s, and most humanities fields have grown since then. Some hot new disciplines in the humanities, like film studies and ethnic studies, have seen especially big growth. English was the exception among all humanities, continuing to grow more slowly than other fields and thus still losing market share.

Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Education Department data obtained from the department and the National Science Foundation

Back to the ‘60s?

In recent years, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the humanities has been catching up to the levels of the late 1960s. The peak year of degrees awarded is shown below in parentheses. The total number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in all disciplines more than doubled over those four decades, so humanities’ market share remains well below its peak. But if the recent growth in history and foreign-language degrees continues, the numbers of bachelor’s degrees in those two disciplines could surpass those of their peak years by 2013.

Of course, numbers tell only part of the story of humanities and the liberal arts. The “right” market share for any discipline is subjective. For example, a debate continues about whether the humanities, and their emphasis on writing and analysis, better prepare students for corporate jobs than business degrees do.

The Other Liberal Arts

Besides the humanities, other disciplines making up the liberal arts and sciences include the social sciences and natural sciences. But unlike the humanities, their market shares have held fairly steady. The social sciences’ share of all degrees dipped only slightly after 1967 and nearly recovered to that year’s level, 16 percent, by 2007. The natural sciences have held rock solid over the past decades, consistently accounting for about 15 percent of all degrees.