Comparing Social Science Job Markets

A new research paper from the American Sociological Association compares the job markets (primarily but not exclusively in academe) in social science disciplines. Looking at the most recent jobs data (based on postings with disciplinary associations), the association found that sociology appears to be experiencing the most robust recovery in job listings (up 28 percent), followed by political science (up 12 percent), history (up 10 percent) and economics (up less than 1 percent). Using the same data (which may be incomplete as many jobs are not posted with the disciplinary associations), the study also calculated a ratio of new Ph.D.s to open rank faculty positions for the four fields. Economics appears in this comparison to have the most favorable job market for new Ph.D.s, with 0.7 Ph.D.s per open rank position. The figures are 1.1 to 1 for political science, 1.3 to 1 for sociology, and 2.1 to 1 for history.