Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    An AI-Driven Work Force
    University Transformation: a Global Leadership Perspective
Sign In
News

Over Time, Humanities Grads Close the Pay Gap With Professional Peers

By Scott Carlson February 7, 2018

Bachelor’s-degree graduates in engineering and the sciences start out earning roughly $10,000 to $30,000 more annually than their liberal-arts peers, a new study finds, but the humanities majors catch up over time.
Bachelor’s-degree graduates in engineering and the sciences start out earning roughly $10,000 to $30,000 more annually than their liberal-arts peers, a new study finds, but the humanities majors catch up over time.Ben Sklar for The Chronicle

There is something that the defenders of the humanities (and, more broadly, the liberal arts) want you to know: Sure, graduates who majored in the arts, philosophy, religion, or literature might make less than someone who majored in a professional program — at least initially. But they’re loving work and loving life — and that, the advocates have argued, is a good start.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

Bachelor’s-degree graduates in engineering and the sciences start out earning roughly $10,000 to $30,000 more annually than their liberal-arts peers, a new study finds, but the humanities majors catch up over time.
Bachelor’s-degree graduates in engineering and the sciences start out earning roughly $10,000 to $30,000 more annually than their liberal-arts peers, a new study finds, but the humanities majors catch up over time.Ben Sklar for The Chronicle

There is something that the defenders of the humanities (and, more broadly, the liberal arts) want you to know: Sure, graduates who majored in the arts, philosophy, religion, or literature might make less than someone who majored in a professional program — at least initially. But they’re loving work and loving life — and that, the advocates have argued, is a good start.

We’ve seen that conclusion in a number of surveys and reports over the years – from the Gallup-Purdue Index, the Annapolis Group, and the Association of American Colleges and Universities, that stalwart defender of liberal education.

Add to that group the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, whose latest report — “The State of the Humanities 2018: Graduates in the Workforce & Beyond” — compares humanities graduates’ job status, earnings, and job satisfaction with those of graduates from engineering, business, and the sciences (including health professions).

The results are familiar, if you’ve read those past reports: Bachelor’s-degree graduates in engineering and the sciences earn roughly $10,000 to $30,000 more, but humanities majors catch up over time — and humanities majors more effectively close the pay gap between younger and older workers. What’s more, the college debt that humanities graduates carry is about the same compared to other majors.

But humanities majors don’t seem miffed by the status of their jobs or the size of their paychecks. (And that may reflect, in part, those graduates’ expectations for a salary starting out.) For the most part, humanities graduates tracked closely to other fields in job security, job location, and opportunities for advancement. (Education majors, notably, had the highest level of job satisfaction.) The level of satisfaction with their wages is about the same as that of people in other jobs — although a slightly higher number of humanities respondents, compared with people in business and the sciences, admitted to worrying about money in the past week.

Matthew T. Hora, an assistant professor in liberal arts and applied studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who studies the path from college to the work force, says the report should “contradict the popular narrative about under-employed baristas and the need to redirect students away from these disciplines.”

However, he notes that arts majors seem to come up short in the report. They worry more about money than other majors, they’re less satisfied with their job benefits, and they have higher unemployment rates. The perception of “starving artists” is one that has haunted arts colleges, in particular.

The study pointed out another strength of humanities majors, compared with others: They don’t see their education tied to a specific field. That might be unsettling at the beginning, but it means that humanities majors are open to pursuing a variety of jobs in a lifetime — like management or other high-paying positions. For example, one million people with humanities degrees work in management, and some 600,000 work in business and financial operations. A quarter of the legal profession is made up of humanities majors. Those fields can pay well.

What’s unclear, says Hora, is whether humanities graduates “are highly desired in these occupations and thus are snapped up by employers, or if graduates fall into these careers because other options have dried up.”

Scott Carlson is a senior writer who covers the cost and value of college. Email him at scott.carlson@chronicle.com.

Read other items in The Future of Work.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
Scott Carlson
About the Author
Scott Carlson
Scott Carlson is a senior writer who explores where higher education is headed. He is a co-author of Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn’t Matter — and What Really Does (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025). Follow him on LinkedIn, or write him at scott.carlson@chronicle.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Content

A Caring Professor May Be Key in How a Graduate Thrives
A Symposium Cautions Against Conflating Education With Job Training
Art Schools Work to Erase Image of Graduates as ‘Starving Artists’

More News

Illustration of a magnifying glass highlighting the phrase "including the requirements set forth in Presidential Executive Order 14168 titled Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government."
Policy 'Whiplash'
Research Grants Increasingly Require Compliance With Trump’s Orders. Here’s How Colleges Are Responding.
Photo illustration showing internal email text snippets over a photo of a University of Iowa campus quad
Red-state reticence
Facing Research Cuts, Officials at U. of Iowa Spoke of a ‘Limited Ability to Publicly Fight This’
Photo illustration showing Santa Ono seated, places small in the corner of a dark space
'Unrelentingly Sad'
Santa Ono Wanted a Presidency. He Became a Pariah.
Illustration of a rushing crowd carrying HSI letters
Seeking precedent
Funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions Is Discriminatory and Unconstitutional, Lawsuit Argues

From The Review

Football game between UCLA and Colorado University, at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., Sept. 24, 2022.
The Review | Opinion
My University Values Football More Than Education
By Sigman Byrd
Photo- and type-based illustration depicting the acronym AAUP with the second A as the arrow of a compass and facing not north but southeast.
The Review | Essay
The Unraveling of the AAUP
By Matthew W. Finkin
Photo-based illustration of the Capitol building dome propped on a stick attached to a string, like a trap.
The Review | Opinion
Colleges Can’t Trust the Federal Government. What Now?
By Brian Rosenberg

Upcoming Events

Plain_Acuity_DurableSkills_VF.png
Why Employers Value ‘Durable’ Skills
Warwick_Leadership_Javi.png
University Transformation: a Global Leadership Perspective
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin