The most difficult and frustrating moment for a student adviser comes when the graduating senior appears at the office door in a state of panic because it has finally sunk in that s/he will soon need a job. Yet you probably have never opened a newspaper and seen an "Anthropologist Wanted" section in it. Like any career, putting your skills to use in anthropology needs to be researched and planned!
Skills Gained
Students in anthropology acquire functional or transferable abilities as well as specific work-content skills. They acquire skills useful in many careers rather than just skills applicable to one job. Anthropology graduates acquire oral and written communication skills, research skills, "people" or "social/cultural" skills and other transferable skills which are important in many jobs in federal, state and local government agencies, in private organizations, educational institutions, business and industries, and in international agencies and services. Social facility, critical thinking, and skills in oral and written expression are cultivated by anthropological training. The kaleidoscope of careers reflects the emphasis on breadth, diversity, and independence of thought suited to the job of the future.
Options for GVSU Graduates
GVSU graduates can select from several options.
First, as liberal arts majors, students can take advantage of employment opportunities for which they must have a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of sciences degree and skills in international, multiculturla or cross-cultural contexts.
Second, a B.A. or B.S. in anthropology prepares students to enter graduate programs leading to a Master's Degree or a Ph.D. For example, a biomedical anthropologist can work in both the public and private sectors in such areas as applied anthropometry, biomedicine, epidemiology, nutrition, zoological gardens, and museums.
Third, the area of contract and survey archaeology offers opportunities for anthropology graduates to work for a private agency of professional archaeologists.
Finally, some students use their anthropology major as the core of a degree in another field or for teacher certification.
Workplaces: Academia
The majority of America's estimated 15,000 professional anthropologists work in higher education, but there are many other career options for trained anthropologists. A growing number of academic anthropologists find careers in other University departments or programs, such as medicine, epidemiology, public health, ethnic, community or area studies, linguistics, cognitive psychology, and neural science.
Workplaces: Applied Jobs in the Public and Private Sectors
Off the campus, applied anthropology offers nearly as many lucrative applications of anthropological knowledge. The nonacademic employment of cultural anthropologists is expanding, as the demand for research on humans and their behavior increases. The American Anthropological Association (AAA) has found that, since 1985, half of all new PhDs in anthropology have taken nonacademic positions--for example, in research institutes, nonprofit associations, government agencies, world organizations and private corporations. An applied anthropologist may be asked to study the eating habits of humans in American fast-food restaurants or to compare mother-reported prenatal practices in different countries.
Advanced degrees can lead to professional work in and outside of academia. Anthropology graduates are often regarded as having excellent preparation for professional training in Law, Medicine, Public Health, School Administration, and Urban Planning, among others. Anyone considering continuing their education in Anthropology or any related field should do some early research on the kinds of background, skills, training, course work, etc. that various graduate and professional programs or employers look for. For example, contract archaeologists are ex-students who came out of school with specific skills; they attend field schools, they specialize, they acquire lab skills. Calculus and statistics are not required by the major, however the student who finds him/herself later working in business or public administration will find that MBA and MPA programs require them as prerequisites.
Anthropology graduates continue to be employed in government services as well as in private organizations with programs in developing nations. Graduates may also find jobs in such international agencies and service organizations as: Agency for International Development, the Department of State, and the Office for Refugee Affairs. Business and industry employ Anthropology graduates in positions requiring the transferable skills for dealing with labor unions, government, community groups, minority and women's groups, health and policy issues, consumer and environmental groups, international agencies, foreign countries, and the media. Some contact groups include the American Anthropological Association, the Peace Corps, UNESCO, United Way, Institute for Food Policy Studies (Food First), Grass Roots International, Cultural Survival, and Bureau of Land Management. These addresses may help:
Food First has two publications which can be very useful: Alternatives to the Peace Corps which includes a good section on the types of skills sought by social service organizations (i.e. how to prepare as an undergraduate), also there is a reference section in the back; and Education For Action which details Graduate Schools that focus on social change. Plan Ahead!
Job Positions
Recent anthropology graduates are employed as:
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