The more recent belief that humanities degrees have marginal value in the marketplace should be discarded. AI technology is expanding into every corner of our lives and the demand for critical thinking abilities together with clear communication skills and empathy continues to be relevant.  Historians and philosophers together with storytellers function as architects who are helping to create meaning and to ground our rapidly changing lifescapes

AI research in healthcare in particular is experiencing rapid growth because it focuses on improving essential clinical operations and results. AI decision support systems demonstrate growing potential to optimize clinical operations and help doctors diagnose patients more effectively.  But the implementation of these advanced solutions creates major challenges for clinical and care settings which require detailed evaluation of ethical, legal, and regulatory aspects.This is an area where combined humanties and industry skill sets are increasingly in demand.

Employers are beginning to get it. Tech companies want ethicists. Health systems need narrative practice professionals. Public policy demands cultural diversity awareness and subject fluency.  The unique human ability to understand context and deliver nuanced moral solutions becomes a highly valuable skill.

What do you think? If you have a story highlighting how your advanced humanties skillset is being used outside of academia please share it with us. 

-Lauren Manning

Excerpt

by Imed Bouchrika, Phd

Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist Research.com

Why pursue a career in humanities and social sciences?

One good reason to pursue human and social studies careers is that these disciplines are pivotal to future societies. They help us remain connected to reality despite our generation going almost completely digital, guiding us to make better decisions and become more inquisitive. If you pursue social science careers now, you have a wealth of options from which to choose. On top of that, careers in the field have a positive outlook.

Graduates of humanities and social sciences degrees develop highly adaptable life-long skills, such as arguing compellingly, leading a team, communicating effectively through public relations, conducting research, analyzing huge problems and data sets, and deciding on crucial matters. They improve their quality of living, making their professions more fulfilling, far-reaching, and engaging (Fullerton University, n.d.).

Humanities and Social Sciences Career Outlook 

Depending on the industry, degree level, and type of occupation, the outlook for the human and social studies jobs differ. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects that the number of jobs in these fields will increase by 7% from 2018 to 2028 (Epps, 2020).

Moreover, the average humanities and social sciences salary was $68,160 in 2019, much higher than the average salary for all other jobs. Still, salaries differ by profession due to the diversity of these fields.

The humanities jobs list and salary below show the possible jobs, early career pay, and job satisfaction rate of humanities and social science degree graduates.

Required Skills for Humanities and Social Sciences

Careers in humanities and social sciences deal with probing events, developments, problems, and more, both historical and modern. Take note of the following skills if you are deciding over particular humanities career options.

Essential Skills for Humanities and Social Sciences Professionals

• Questioning. Questioning skills are essential to criminal investigator or psychologist roles. These skills are useful for asking about key events, developments, concerns, and occurrences that would lead to new discoveries.
• Analysis, Researching, and Evaluating. Workers in the field, including library science careers, will always be ordered to gather information or data and study them. They must identify and figure out the accuracy and reliability of such items before making a conclusion.
• Civic Engagement, Global Learning, and/or Intercultural Knowledge. These skills are needed when exploring issues, phenomena, and historical artifacts to identify problems; analyzing pieces of evidence to form an opinion; helping communities enrich their lives; studying national and global systems, and promoting effective interactions in different cultural settings.

General Skills for Humanities and Social Sciences Professionals

• Communication. Careers related to social studies work on presenting findings appropriately for various audiences and goals.
• Creative Thinking. Creative thinking lets humanities and social sciences experts do their jobs well. It is also an important skill for personal development and understanding human experiences.
• Critical Thinking. Critical thinking is necessary for almost any kind of field as it helps in analyzing circumstances and making the right decisions.

The British Academy published the 2020 report “Qualified for the Future: Quantifying demand for arts, humanities, and social science skills" to showcase the tangible benefits of arts, humanities, and social sciences skills to the United Kingdom workforce, society, and economy today and in the future. “Much of the debate around future skills has focused on the needs of the workforce and ensuring that the U.K. economy is well equipped. But the challenges of the future are not confined to the workplace. There are a growing number of organizations dedicated to identifying, unpicking, and planning for the challenges facing humanity in the future. Although there is no complete consensus on what these are, there are several common themes: climate change and resource scarcity, pandemics and global health, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, international terrorism, and new methods of warfare."