CHOOSING A PATH TO THE ANCIENT WORLD IN A MODERN
MARKET: THE REALITY OF FACULTY JOBS IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Robert J. Speakman, Carla S. Hadden, Matthew H. Colvin, Justin Cramb, K.C. Jones,
Travis W. Jones, Corbin L. Kling, Isabelle Lulewicz, Katharine G. Napora,
Katherine L. Reinberger, Brandon T. Ritchison, Maria Jose Rivera-Araya, April K. Smith,
and Victor D. Thompson
Over the past 30 years, the number of US doctoral anthropology graduates has increased by about 70%, but there has not been
a corresponding increase in the availability of new faculty positions. Consequently, doctoral degree-holding archaeologists
face more competition than ever before when applying for faculty positions. Here we examine where US and Canadian
anthropological archaeology faculty originate and where they ultimately end up teaching. Using data derived from the 2014–
2015 AnthroGuide, we rank doctoral programs whose graduates in archaeology have been most successful in the academic
job market; identify long-term and ongoing trends in doctoral programs; and discuss gender division in academic archaeology
in the US and Canada. We conclude that success in obtaining a faculty position upon graduation is predicated in large part
on where one attends graduate school.
Durante los últimos 30 años, el número de doctorados en antropología ha aumentado en un 70%, pero no ha habido un
aumento correspondiente en la disponibilidad de nuevas plazas docentes. Como consecuencia, hoy los arqueólogos con
doctorado se enfrentan a más competencia que nunca al solicitar puestos de profesor. En este artículo examinamos las
instituciones de origen de los docentes en arqueología antropológica en Estados Unidos y Canadá y las universidades donde
eventualmente terminan enseñando. Usando los datos derivados del AnthroGuide de 2014–2015, clasificamos los programas
de doctorado cuyos graduados en arqueología han tenido más éxito en el mercado de trabajo académico, identificamos las
tendencias a largo plazo y en curso en los programas doctorales y discutimos las divisiones de género en la arqueología
académica en los Estados Unidos y Canadá. Llegamos a la conclusión que el éxito en obtener una plaza docente después de
graduarse se basa en gran parte en la institución donde se frecuenta el programa de posgrado.
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n 2012, both Kiplinger Business Forecast and
Forbes ranked anthropology and archaeol-
ogy as the worst choice of college majors,
with an unemployment rate of 10.5% and a
median salary of $28,000 for recent college
graduates (Dewey 2012; Goudreau 2012). More
recently, in their 2016–2017 forecast, Kiplinger
Robert J. Speakman Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
(archsci@uga.edu, corresponding author)
Carla S. Hadden Center for Applied Isotope Studies and Georgia Museum of Natural History, University of Georgia,
Athens, GA 30602, USA
Matthew H. Colvin, Travis W. Jones, Isabelle Lulewicz, Katharine G. Napora, and Katherine L. Reinberger Center
for Applied Isotope Studies and Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Justin Cramb, K.C. Jones, Brandon T. Ritchison, April K. Smith, and Victor D. Thompson Department of
Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA (vdthom@uga.edu, corresponding author)
Corbin L. Kling Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA and Department of
Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Maria Jose Rivera-Araya Center for Applied Isotope Studies and Department of Geography, University of Georgia,
Athens, GA 30602, USA
ranked anthropology as the fifth worst college
major (Rapacon 2017). Kiplinger reports 8,255
anthropologists and archaeologists are currently
employed in the discipline, which is slightly
higher than the approximately 7,700 listed in the
2015 US Department of Labor Outlook Hand-
book (US Department of Labor 2015). Kiplinger
American Antiquity 83(1), 2018, pp. 1–12
Copyright © 2017 by the Society for American Archaeology
doi:10.1017/aaq.2017.36
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