Humanities Job Market Tightens, Says MLA

They study poetry and rhetoric, but facing a sharp decline in job postings, some humanities graduate students are learning a lesson in economics.

Listings for language and literature positions in higher education are down 20 percent from last year, the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) announced last week.

The MLA job listings are typically a bellweather of job availability in the humanities departments of American colleges and universities.

This is the first decline in MLA postings since 1995 and the largest decline in almost 10 years.

According to Cogan University Professor and MLA President Stephen J. Greenblatt, the economy is much to blame for the downturn.

While Harvard has been able to continue to expand its humanities faculty, fiscal realities at other universities are hurting the overall job market.

“The job cuts for this past year have been principally though not entirely based in public universities and colleges,” Greenblatt said. “It’s universities that don’t have endowments but that are dependent on funding from state legislatures.”

Students at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences said the news from the MLA would only make a bad situation worse.

“[The job-market is] more frightening than ever,” said Adams House English tutor Sharon L. Howell. “It’s continuously discouraging.”

According to Greenblatt, finding a humanities job has been difficult for at least the last decade. “Harvard students have done well, but they haven’t been immune,” he said.

Colin N. Milburn, Pforzheimer House tutor for English and American Literature and Language, said that in light of recent history, the MLA’s statistic isn’t surprising.

“I’ve become a little more concerned about it, but...I think there’s still time for things to change,” Milburn said.

Howell said that beyond whether students would get jobs, many are worried about the quality or desirability of the jobs they would get.

“The big concern is that you won’t be able to choose where you end up,” she said.

Meanwhile, Cabot House Near Eastern Languages tutor Vivian L. Johnson said she saw no new reason for distress.

“It’s a choice to worry about [the market], and I choose not to worry,” Johnson said.

Graduate Student Council president Rebecca J. Spencer said that whatever its actual effect, the drop in MLA listings should highlight the long-term employment difficulties graduate students face.

“I’m hoping...that [the drop] will help GSAS think about what they need to do for students to help them go out on the job market and be strong candidates.”

—Staff writer Stephen M. Marks can be reached at marks@fas.harvard.edu.