History
Overview of History Degrees
Types of Degrees: Bachelors in History, Masters in History, and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in History.
A B.A. in history is very flexible, and common entry-level jobs include policy assistants, paralegals, and sometimes business roles.
A masters of arts helps with finding more specialized jobs like research analysts, historical consultants, and cultural resource directors.
A Ph.D. is required for university or academic researchers, mainly in position for scholarly publications.
Specific types of history and additional programs:
Public History: a focus on showing history in real-world settings like museums, media, historic sites, etc.
American History: A specific focus of U.S. politics and culture
Archaeology: A focus on human societies through physical remain
Additional Information
Average Salary: $67K
Job Market: Approximately 1.2 million history degree graduates in the US employed right now
Policy Assistant
Policy Assistants develop laws and policies for governments and organizations. They mainly work for the government and sometimes nonprofits. Some tasks include but are not limited to: Analyzing data and summarizing reports, drafting briefs and policy documents, tracking political developments, and organizing meetings.
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A bachelor’s degree in history is the minimum requirement for this job.
Example day of a Policy Assistant
9:00am: Check-in & Emails
9:30am: Review a specific issue (for instance, climate policy and CO2 emission cap)
10:00am: create a brief for a supervisor that they can read
12:30pm: Lunch break
1:30pm: Attend a meeting and legislative hearing
2:30pm: Update reports and track bills
4:30pm: Wrap up work and plan which issues to cover the next day
Cultural Resource Director
Cultural resource directors manage historical and cultural sites like museums and preservation programs. Some tasks include managing budgets and staff for exhibitions, ensuring compliance with preservation laws, and working with government agencies to protect historical artifacts.
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A Master’s degree in history is the minimum requirement for this job.
Example Daily Schedule
9:00 AM: Review potential new additions to the museum, and review ongoing projects.
9:00 AM: Meet with stakeholders, city officials, historians, etc.
10:30 AM: Review funding proposals and preservation plans for artifacts.
12:00 PM: Lunch
1:00 PM: Visit site and oversee project work
3:00 PM: Fill out administrative work like budget reports and briefs.
5:00 PM: plan upcoming events and wrap up
