Medieval Ph.D. Registry Project

REGISTRY REPORT: 1999

Roger Dahood, Project Director
rdahood@u.arizona.edu

The Ph.D. Registry Project grew out of the CARA meeting in San Antonio, Texas, in the autumn of 1997. It was the sense of the meeting that hard data would lend substance and focus to discussions about the job market for doctorates in medieval specialties. (“Medieval” includes the period about A.D. 500–1500.) Although hiring data are available for large disciplinary categories such as English and History, data for subfields such as medieval English and medieval history have been wanting. The Registry is an ongoing effort to collect data on Ph.D.s in medieval specialties with the immediate purpose of improving understanding of the job market for medievalists in North America.1

The Registry covers doctoral degrees awarded by North American institutions from 1995 on in medieval subject areas and as of July 9, 1999, includes information on 1,047 holders of North American degrees. The primary source for calculating the number of medievalist degrees awarded is Dissertation Abstracts International.2

The Medieval Academy office, dissertation directors, and awarding or employing departments have in many cases supplemented the information in Dissertation Abstracts.3 In a few cases the American Historical Association Directory, the Modern Language Association Directory, the “Job Tracks” survey in Lingua Franca, and college and university sites on the Internet have provided current information about the employment status of recent Ph.D.s.4 The most detailed information has come from the recent Ph.D.s who have responded to the “Medieval Ph.D. Registry Form” published in recent issues of Medieval Academy News.

The Registry includes doctorates listed under the following headings in the printed version of Dissertation Abstracts:5 Architecture; Art History; Mass Communications; Music; Theater; Education, History of; Language: Linguistics, Rhetoric and Composition; Literature: Comparative, Medieval, Asian, English, Germanic, Middle Eastern, Romance, Slavic and East European; Philosophy; Religion, History of; Theology; Economics, History; Folklore; History: Medieval, Church, Asia, European, Middle Eastern; History of Science; Law; Women’s Studies.

1. What proportion of U.S. doctorates in the humanities went to medievalists in 1995 and 1996, the two most recent years for which figures are available?6

Table 1 shows the total number of doctorates awarded in the United States in pertinent disciplines in 1995 and 1996 and the number awarded to medievalists. The number of medievalists in each field is expressed in absolute figures (middle columns) and as percentages of the totals (right-hand columns). In cases where a medievalist dissertation topic crosses fields, I have counted the degree in all appropriate fields. Thus a dissertation dealing with a theological issue may be counted both under Religion and History.

The two most populous fields both in total number of doctorates and number of medievalists were English and History. For production of medievalists Religion was third, Art History fourth, and French fifth. Spanish, German, Philosophy, Comparative Literature, Italian, Music, Chinese, Slavic, Drama, and Japanese produced smaller numbers. Linguistics and Russian produced the fewest medievalists.

The order by percentages presents a different picture. The biggest combined percentages for the two years were in Chinese, Japanese, and Slavic languages and literatures. Among the Western European languages Italian had the highest percentage, followed by French, German, and Spanish. Doctorates in English comprised only 6.4 and 5.7 percent and in History only 4.2 and 5.5 percent of the totals. The high proportion of medievalists in Italian (17.1 and 16.7) owes a lot to Dante, for 3 of the 6 medievalist doctorates in Italian in 1995 and 1 of the 4 in 1996 dealt wholly or partly with his writings. Dante accounted for 8.6% of all doctorates in Italian in 1995 and 4.2% in 1996.

Table 1: U.S. Doctorates Awarded in 1995 and 1996

How many doctorates in medieval specialties do North American institutions grant annually, and what is the distribution among specialties?

Table 2 shows the number of U.S. and Canadian doctorates awarded in medieval specialties in 1995 and 1996. The largest totals are in English, History, Religion, Art History, and French. U.S. institutions awarded doctorates in all fields on the list. Almost half of the U.S. doctorates were awarded in English and History (106 or 48.4% of 219 in 1995 and 105 or 49.8% of 211 in 1996). Most Canadian doctorates were awarded in History and English (23 or 67.6% of 34 in 1995 and 13 or 48.1% of 27 in 1996), followed by 5 in Religion in each of the two years. Canadian institutions awarded no doctorates in Comparative Literature, Japanese, Linguistics, Russian, Slavic, or Spanish.9

Table 2: North American Doctorates Awarded in Medieval Specialities in 1995 and 1996

3. How many of the medievalists awarded Canadian and U.S. doctorates in English in 1995 and 1996 currently hold or are about to assume tenure-track (TT) positions? What is the distribution of females and males?

The 1995 cohort of medievalist Ph.D.s in English totals 77 (45 females, 27 males, and 5 whose sex I cannot determine). The 1996 cohort totals 64 (38 female, 24 male, and 2 undetermined). Table 3 shows in the left-hand column the total doctorates awarded in medieval English specialties in 1995 and 1996, in the second column the number holding or about to assume TT positions, and in the third column the number expressed as a percentage of the total. The three right-most columns show the numbers of TT females, males, and Ph.D.s whose sex is unknown.

Table 3: Medieval English PH.D.s in 1995 and 1996 and Number of Males and Females in Tenure-Track Positions

4. How many 1995 and 1996 U.S. and Canadian Ph.D.s in medieval English have held only non-TT positions?

Of the 1995 cohort 8 held temporary positions at four-year colleges or universities other than their degree institutions, 2 at their degree institutions, 1 at a community college, and 2 at primary or secondary institutions. Of the 1996 cohort 14 held temporary positions at four-year colleges and universities other than their degree institutions and 6 at their degree institutions.

5. How many of the 1995 and 1996 Canadian and U.S. Ph.D.s in medieval English who currently hold or are about to assume TT positions held non-TT positions after earning the doctorate?

6. How many of the medievalists awarded Canadian and U.S. doctorates in History in 1995 and 1996 currently hold or are about to assume TT positions? What is the distribution of females and males?

The 1995 cohort of medievalist Ph.D.s in History totals 52 (18 females, 28 males, and 6 whose sex I cannot determine). The 1996 cohort totals 51 (27 female, 21 male, and 3 undetermined). The figures appear in Table 4 in the same format as Table 3.

Table 4: Medieval History PH.D.s in 1995 and 1996 and Nunber of Males and females in Tenure-Track Positions

7. How many of the 1995 and 1996 Canadian and U.S. Ph.D.s in medieval History have held only non-TT positions?

Of the 1995 cohort 6 were at four-year colleges and universities other than their degree institutions and 3 at their degree institutions. Of the 1996 cohort the corresponding numbers were 13 and 2.

8. How many of those awarded doctorates in History in 1995 and 1996 who currently hold or are about to assume TT positions held non-TT positions for a year or more after earning the doctorate?

9. What size institutions hired 1995 and 1996 Canadian and U.S. Ph.D.s in medieval English and History to TT positions, and what level of degree do the hiring institutions award?

Table 5 shows the combined number of 1995 and 1996 Ph.D.s hired to TT positions in medieval English specialties and the hiring institutions by size of student population.10 Table 6 displays corresponding information for doctorates in History.

Table 5: Institutions by Size of Student Population Hiring 1995 and 1996 PH.D.S in Medieval English Specialities to Tenure-Track Positions

Table 6: Institutions by Size of Student Population Hiring 1995 and 1996 PH.D.S in Medieval History Specialities to Tenure-Track Positions

Universities with student populations of 20,000 and more award doctorates in most years in English and History. Some below 20,000 award doctorates in most years, but many regularly or exclusively award B.A.s and M.A.s. Most with student populations below 5,000 are chiefly undergraduate institutions, although many award M.A.s and a few award Ph.D.s.

11. How many of those awarded doctorates in medieval specialties in English or History in 1995 and 1996 who do not hold TT positions have remained out of the TT-seeking pool for reasons other than a tight job market?

The answer to this question is essential to an accurate understanding of the job market, yet only a tentative answer is currently possible. The Registry and published sources make it possible to infer a fairly close approximation of the hiring rate (addressed in Questions 3 and 6). The success rate, however, is another matter. If, for example, in a particular year, a field produces 100 doctorates and 10 obtain TT positions, the hiring rate is 10%. If, however, only 50 of the 100 sought TT jobs, the success rate would be 20%, or double the hiring rate. The success rate is currently indeterminate, because there is no information on the employment plans of about half the Ph.D.s in the database. Because the total of doctorates in a particular year in a particular field is small, just a few people in the “not-seeking” category make for a significant increase in the success rate over the hiring rate. If 10 of the 1995 cohort in English were not seeking TT positions, the success rate for the cohort would equal 43.3%, 5.6% above the hiring rate.

As it is, however, responses to the Registry Form so far allow identification of 1 English and 1 History 1995 Ph.D. and 1 English 1996 Ph.D. who for reasons such as advanced age, ill health, and untimely death have not sought TT jobs. The success rate for job seekers of 1995 doctorates in English is thus not less than 38.2% and of 1996 doctorates not less than 33.3%. The success rate for 1995 doctorates in History is not less than 29.5% and for 1996 doctorates not less than 28.6%. Whether the success rates are higher and, if higher, how much higher we cannot say.

Conclusion

The Registry in its present state provides a snapshot of the recent job market. The information on hand does not enable identification of trends or confident projections for career planning. As the database grows it will become more useful for such purposes. Table 1 shows that, for 1995 and 1996 combined, medievalists on average make up a rather small proportion of U.S. doctorates in the humanities and languages: less than 10% in most fields, and well below 10% in the most populous fields, English and History. The addition of Canadian doctorates probably would not change the percentages greatly.

Table 2 shows that in 1995 and 1996 U.S. institutions awarded doctorates in a wider range of medieval specialties than Canadian institutions. Tables 3 and 4 show that on average the hiring rate to TT positions for 1995 and 1996 doctorates is just over one-third of medievalists in English and just over one-fourth of medievalists in History. The combined success rate is somewhat higher, averaging out to not less than about 36% for 1995 and 1996 English medievalist Ph.D.s and to not less than about 29% for History medievalist Ph.D.s, but the figures may be low. In both fields TT appointments were about evenly split between women and men, with slightly larger numbers of women hired.

The answers to Questions 3, 5, 6, and 8 indicate that only a fraction of those obtaining temporary first jobs have later obtained TT positions. Out of 49 1995 and 1996 Ph.D.s in English in TT positions 8 or about 16% previously held non-TT positions, and out of 26 in History in TT positions 2 or about 8% previously held non-TT positions.

I have concentrated on English and History, because they produce the most doctorates year after year. Nothing in the database, however, suggests that any field has done markedly better than English in placing new Ph.D.s, and indications are that most have not done as well. The academic market for 1995 and 1996 medievalists cannot be characterized as strong, but the appeal of doctoral study has been strong enough to attract at least three times as many graduate students as have recently been able to get TT jobs.

Notes

1. The Registry database is a Microsoft Access file. James O. Austin of the University of Arizona Teaching Center maintains the database. In collecting information I have had helpful guidance from Georgia Ehlers and Nancy Mosman of the University of Arizona, Natalia Lusin of the Modern Language Association of America, and Lance Selfa of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Luke Wenger of the Medieval Academy of America has provided consistently sound advice on the design of the Registry Form and the database.

2. Dissertation Abstracts International. A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 55-59 (1995–99), passim.

3. I am grateful to the dissertation advisers, too many to name here, who have reported on the employment status of their recent graduates. I especially wish to acknowledge a number of individuals who have reported information for departments and programs: Philippe Buc of Stanford University; Dianne Ferriss of the Medieval Studies Program, Cornell University; Roberta Frank and Anna Burko of the Centre for Medieval Studies, Toronto; Patrick Geary of the Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame; Nicholas Howe of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Ohio State University; William Kibler of the University of Texas, Austin; Joan Ferrante of Columbia University; Mary Anne Kowaleski of Fordham University; and Elaine Tennant of the University of California at Berkeley. Lin Garber of the Medieval Academy of America, Dorothy Glass of the International Center of Medieval Art, and Mary-Alice Talbot and Sarah A. Gordon of Dumbarton Oaks have provided information not available from other sources.

4. Directory of History Departments and Organizations in the United States and Canada, 24th ed. (Washington, D. C., 1999); the Modern Language Association Directory appears annually in the September number of PMLA; Lingua Franca, 6 (1996), passim., and 7 (1997), passim. “Job Tracks” appeared as unified annual reports in the February numbers of Lingua Franca 8 (1998) and 9 (1999).

5. In the printed version a dissertation appears in only one field. The CD-ROM version tags a dissertation for multiple fields. Thus a single dissertation may appear more than once in a multi-field search on the CD-ROM.

6. Peter H. Henderson, Julie E. Clarke, and Mary A. Reynolds, Summary Report 1995: Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities (Washington, D.C., 1996), p. 105; Peter H. Henderson, Julie E. Clarke, and Cynthia Woods, Summary Report 1996: Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities (Washington, D.C., 1998), p. 67. Tables 1 and 2 use the field labels in Henderson et al.

7. “English” includes doctorates in American literature.

8. History includes the subcategories “American,” “Asian,” “European,” “History/Philosophy of Science and Technology,” “General,” and “Other.” Ted W. Margadant, “The Production of PhDs and the Academic Job Market for Historians,” Perspectives 37, No. 5 (May 1999), 1, 41-44, reports significantly different totals (p. 41, Figure 2). The disparity may arise because Margadant reports by academic years whereas Henderson et al. reports by calendar years. Also, the publications draw their data from different sources and classify degree recipients somewhat differently.

9. Reporting of Canadian Ph.D.s in Dissertation Abstracts often lags by a year or more. The actual numbers may be greater than shown.

10. In most cases the source of data on institutional size for U.S. institutions is Peterson’s Register of Higher Education, 1998: The Complete Directory of U.S. Postsecondary Academic and Administrative Officials, 11th ed. (Princeton, New Jersey, n.d.). For U.S. institutions not included in Peterson’s and for Canadian universities the sources the Internet sites of each institution.