Grim Numbers

[lollardfish]

Academic Job Market.

The reality of radically differing job markets may be especially clear as 2011 begins with disciplinary associations gathering for job interviews at annual meetings and releasing data on the number of available positions. During the 2009-10 academic year, the number of positions listed with the American Historical Association dropped by 29.4 percent, according to a study the group will release today. That follows a 23.8 percent drop the year before. Last year, the association announced that the number of listings it received -- 806 -- was the smallest in a decade; this year's total of 569 marks the smallest number in 25 years.

Comments

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Ick. And it's important stuff. I suspect we're currently under-investing in real liberal-arts programs (not necessarily in "higher education" as a class; that includes community colleges and law and medical programs too).

Lots of private universities rely heavily on their endowments, which may have been heavily hit by recent stock market messes. So public and private are in financial trouble at the same time, and support for students isn't any too good.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

The stock market has rebounded mightily, so that's not the issue in most cases (our modest endowment is higher than it was before the crash). It does, however, provide a good excuse for people who do not want to invest their money in tenure-track lines.