Undergraduate Program: Careers

Careers as an Anthropology Graduate

The world-famous author of Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton, was interviewed in Time magazine. Asked the inevitable question about how his career as a best-selling writer developed, Crichton answered that he "went to Harvard in 1960 intending to be a writer, but the English department rubbed a blister on his soul (it was 'not the place for an aspiring writer,' he said; 'it was the place for an aspiring English professor'), so he switched to anthropology."

In fact, there are several successful literary types who began their careers with a solid foundation in anthropology. The famous science fiction authors Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Chad Oliver, and Ursula K. LeGuin (daughter of our own Alfred Kroeber) are examples. Mystery writer Aaron Elkins was a forensic anthropologist, and Elizabeth Peters was an archaeologist. Non-fiction writer Elizabeth Marshall Thomas was an anthropology major. Pueblo Indian authors, Edward Dozier and Alfonso Ortiz, were anthropologists. Steve Riggio, the founder of the Barnes and Noble mega-bookstore chain, was an anthropology major. In the arts, singers Tracy Chapman and Mick Jagger were drawn to anthropology, and actor Gabriel Byrne was an archaeologist. In higher education, Crow Indian, Dr. Janine Pease-Pretty on Top, the President of Little Big Horn Tribal College, was an anthropology major as was the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta. There are even examples of royalty in the persons of Prince Charles of England and Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark. Jane Goodall is an anthropologist. And the list goes on.

Interest in and respect for anthropology are growing, and by 1995 more anthropology degrees were awarded in the United States than in any other single year. The number of anthropology students continues to rise. According to the American Anthropological Association, in the ten years from 1987 to 1997, the number of anthropology majors nationwide increased 109%. The number of Master's degrees awarded went up 60%, and the number of Ph.D. degrees by 35%. During the same time enrollments in undergraduate anthropology classes nationwide increased 78%. In the last two years, the number of Bachelor's degrees awarded in anthropology has increased by an additional 56%.

National Public Radio reports that the World Bank is restructuring and plans to hire fewer economists and more anthropologists. Anthropologists, it is felt, will best be able to understand the financial needs of businesses in other countries. It is assumed that anthropologists will make the projects of the World Bank more relevant and more cost-effective.

The 1999 edition of Newsweek's "Career and Graduate School" guide lists "anthropologists" as a career that's "up," one of the "hot careers" of the future. It is customary to tell students that job ads rarely state that a particular company or agency is specifically hiring an anthropologist. Instead, companies or agencies will list the kinds of skills that anthropologists have. Lately, however, more and more job ads do specifically state that the individual hired should be an "anthropologist" or an "archaeologist." Not only do contract archaeology companies advertise for "archaeologists," but so do government agencies like the National Park Service. Brighton Center, a social services organization in Covington, Kentucky, recently advertised for an "anthropologist" to evaluate their effectiveness in the community.
Hallmark Greeting Cards has advertised to hire an "anthropologist" who can conduct an ethnographic survey of when and how Americans use greeting cards.

A recently conducted survey of business and industry leaders evaluated the skills most important in anyone they hired. High on the list was the ability of an employee to work well with people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, a skill typical of anthropology graduates.

The February 18, 1999 edition of USA Today ran in its "Money" section a cover story titled "Hot Asset in Corporate: Anthropology Degrees." USA Today concluded that "as companies go global and crave leaders for a diverse workforce, a new hot degree is emerging for aspiring executives: anthropology." Among the companies with anthropology majors among its executives, the article listed Citicorp, Hallmark, Hanseatic Group, Hauser Design, Koss, and Motorola. Anthropologist Katherine Burr, CEO of the Hanseatic Group, an investment company, was among the first to predict the 1998 Asian financial crisis. As a result, her investors made profits while the clients of other money managers lost out.

Newsweek reports that since mid-1997 the jobless rate in the United States has been below 5%, falling to a record 4.2% in mid-1999 and then to 3.9% in mid-2000, well below the 6% unemployment economists previously had suggested as the lowest "natural rate" of unemployment possible.

Most people realize too that whether the economy is good or bad, a college degree, in just about anything, increases one's lifetime earnings and decreases the chances of unemployment. (According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the difference in the earnings gap between college and high school graduates is 60% and growing; a New York Times study of job losses shows that it is high school graduates who account for 66% of all people who have lost their jobs.) The liberal arts [such as anthropology] have been, and will continue to be, the most effective preparation for the leaders of tomorrow.

So college is a good idea, but is anthropology the career path you should take in college? While the least a career should do is offer you a salary and some security, it should offer so much more. Before you ask the questions of where are the most jobs and how much money you can make, ask yourself what would you enjoy doing for the next forty or fifty years of your life. Ask yourself what gives you so much pleasure that even if you won the lottery, you would not quit. That should be the first question you ask yourself in your quest for a career.

How do you define anthropology? What would give you pleasure? How will you make a living out of something that gives you satisfaction? Some areas of anthropology are more popular than others. Most of us, often as children, have read the story of archaeologist Howard Carter as he gazed upon the treasures of King TutÕs tomb for the first time. Archaeology is a subfield of anthropology. Forensic anthropology is
another popular subfield, as described in the popular children's book, The Bone Detectives: How Forensic Anthropologists Solve Crimes and Uncover Mysteries of the Dead. Archaeology and forensic anthropology both seem like such interesting ways of making a living. Is that possible? The answer is yes and no.

For archaeology the answer is a loud yes. There are dozens of contract archaeology firms operating right here in the Bay Area which hire people at every college degree level from the bachelor's degree to the doctorate. Throw in local schools and museums, and the job market is even bigger. That is true of archaeology all over the world. So, if your interest is archaeology, go to it.

What about forensic anthropology? Exciting? Yes. Jobs that pay money? Only for the lucky few. There are only about 150 forensic anthropologists in the United States, and only about 15 of them work full-time as forensic anthropologists. The rest of them do forensic anthropology part-time and support themselves working in related areas of anthropology, biology, or medicine. Part-timers might get only one or two grizzly cases a year. If your interest is forensic anthropology, you need to decide how the availability of work affects your career choice. Could you be happy earning your living in a related area of anthropology where there are numerous jobs and do forensics here and there?

Other job prospects in anthropology lie somewhere along the continuum between archaeology and forensic anthropology. Applied anthropology and environmental studies lie closer to archaeology along the job continuum. Journalism, law, eco-tourism, teaching, social services, human resources, travel consulting, law enforcement, counseling, public service, international businessÉ These are all careers for which anthropology is considered an ideal background; in fact, anthropology is one of the most desirable undergraduate majors for those entering medical school.

When it comes to a career, luck and serendipity can not be discounted, but preparation is advised. Prepare yourself to go after the career in anthropology you most want, job availability or not. Then, while youÕre at it, amass as many job skills as possible in every area of anthropology and related fields, especially those areas where jobs are more readily available.

Follow your heart, but in a pragmatic sort of way. Take courses that will develop important skills, anthropology courses like ethnographic methods, museum methods, laboratory methods, and archaeology field school and courses outside of anthropology like statistics, a foreign language, computer skills, historical research, photography, and sociological methods. Accumulate work experience, even if at first you have to do it on a volunteer basis, with museums, contract archaeology companies, and human services organizations. Finally, while you are astudent at Berkeley, take advantage of the excellent faculty and advisors available to you. They are wonderful sources of information in and out of the classroom!

(Much of this information was borrowed from the Northern Kentucky University web site transcript of Career Day address by Sharlotte Neely, Professor and Career Advisor.)

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