Career-filter: possibilities after PhD in history, with interests in socio-economic issues

May 10, 2009 11:23 AM

Career-filter: Yes, yet another long question about "what can I do with myself?" In this case, what are the other (non-obvious) possibilities for someone working on a PhD in history, with interests in socio-economic issues?

I am entering the last (I hope) year of working on a PhD in History, with a focus on European socio-economic history, and I'm looking towards the future with not a little trepidation.

The academic job market, a difficult one at the best of times, is currently best described as dire; I have also seriously questioned whether academic history, which includes a great deal of solitary work, really suits my temperament. I enjoy research, but working alone on long projects (something historians spend most of their lives doing) has been very psychologically stressful to me; I miss the comradeship and intellectual exchange I have experienced while working part-time in another academic field, even something as simple as having someone to say hello to when coming to work in the morning.

I do love history (big stuff and names and dates), and I really enjoy teaching, so I am still planning to apply for history positions at teaching oriented/intensive colleges and universities (or even high schools, though for that I would have to get an education qualification). But I have little to no knowledge of the world outside of education/academic history jobs, library/archive work (I like playing with manuscripts and old books, but hate cateloguing) or working in a coffee shop (my previous career), and so I have come to the metafilter hivemind to try to look outside of my own narrow experience and explore what other possibilities there might be.

I have a number of research skills - these are not the same skills as would be expected from a social scientist, but they are also different from someone in a more purely humanities discipline (History, especially as I do it, rests right on the fault-line between the two). I have spent more time than any normal person would ever want to finding stuff in libraries, and I have experience with the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data (14,000 individual records in my hearth tax analysis, which will turn into only a couple of pretty maps), but no formal statistical training (though very willing to learn). I have designed very simple relational databases, and have entered data in complex ones, but have not designed or done serious analysis out of complex databases. I have also used qualitative analysis and GIS (geographic information system) software - again, my abilities are more of a beginning user rather than an experienced technician, but I am very willing to learn and I do learn new software relatively quickly, though I am better with oral/on-the-job instruction than just reading the manual.

In terms of my other skills and qualifications: I obviously have a lot of experience thinking through evidence and in both argumentative and descriptive writing (though my spelling has been destroyed by immersion in ye olde Englyshe). I am fairly comfortable with public speaking and presentations. I already have a masters from a very well-known university, and am planning to complete my PhD, so I will at least appear to be educated. I'd like to think that I'm not dim, though I know I'm not as brilliant as very successful academics; my interests are quite diverse and I feel like I'm more of a "Jack of all trades," and never quite mastered one. I really like thinking about systems, and how things are done, and how they can be improved, but I don't have the connections, dress-sense or figure for consulting.

Which brings me to my faults: I am a lousy dresser, for whom graduate school has been a fashion-less haven; I am not in the least entrepreneurial - I have many ideas, but none make money and I am not a good salesperson; I get frustrated when I work in places where I cannot suggest changes that I think can improve how things are done, even politely; I like to think I'm polite, but I am very Joe-Bidenish in that I often put my foot in my mouth (no CIA work for me); I work well in groups, and I think I could supervise people, but I'm not a naturally good people-manager. And most of all, I work very well on my own, but I do not work well in isolation. Stick me at a desk in a room full of people whom I can nod at when I come in in the morning, and I'm happy beavering away on my own stuff, but I like to have my existence acknowledged by other people at least twice a day. And I have run-on paragraphs.

In terms of my interests: I am much more interested in the public/non-profit sector than the private sector, and in the areas of research, policy and services related to social issues like educational and social inequality, economic development (especially in non-industrialized rural areas), social ecology (people and the environment), urban planning, etc. I keep up with politics, and can be a bit "wonkish," but I'm not inclined to join any political parties, and I am uncomfortable with advocacy if it means giving biased/selective information (I want to blurt out what I really think). I like to feel that my work is worthwhile, that it is making a difference (not just in a feel-good way, but just that what I am doing is solid and substantial, even if it is only a small part of something bigger).

Okay - that was super-long. But having been patient with me this far, I would like to ask for your knowledge about possible career/job options for someone like me. I would especially like to ask about specific ideas, or concrete places to research opportunities, as opposed to more general suggestions. I would be very happy to hear from people who are actively working in relevant careers, or know people who are.

Further relevant details:

- I am a Canadian citizen with the right to work in the UK as well, though not in the rest of the EU
- I am married to a dual Canadian-British citizen, who works in security studies (and who has a very similar skill set)
- I am a mono-lingual anglophone, with only rudimentary French (could live in a French place, provided the work was in English)
- I don't know how to drive, but I'm happy to cycle and walk and bus, etc
- I am willing to live just about anywhere in the world and I have very low lifestyle expectations, provided I can get internet : ) (Convincing the boy might be harder)

posted by jb to work & money (9 comments total)

Two sites I have found helpful (as a final year PhD student in literature moving onto non-academia type things) are Beyond the PhD (Career resources for humanities researchers) and from Duke University, this email discussion list for non-academic careers for humanities & social science graduate students. For the latter, check out the right hand sidebar for personal anecdotes of so many non-academic career options, complete with Q&As.
posted by meerkatty at 11:51 AM on May 10 [3 favorites]

What is your dissertation research on? It might be helpful to get some more specifics on your current research -- especially in terms of time period, specifici policies, or focus population -- to figure out what might be transferable to other fields.

Also: you say you're not interested in continuing on the research track. Does that mean you're also not interested in writing? (given that at this point, you essentially have a draft of a book in hand.... )
posted by puckish at 11:59 AM on May 10

puckish: my research is on agricultural change, demography and social structure in a specific region in 17th century England, with a sideline in landscape history and social ecology.

I'm sorry, I should have clarified: I'm actually very interested in research, but not in solitary research. I have done group/lab based research and enjoyed that very much. I am less interested in writing; I can do it, but it's not my first love and also tends to be a very solitary pursuit.
posted by jb at 12:13 PM on May 10

Actually, that should be "less interested in solitary research" - I actually really like it, but I find working alone for months on end very difficult psychologically. I thought it would get better, but it hasn't. If I could be someone's History lab post-doc, I would be over-the-moon.
posted by jb at 12:15 PM on May 10

Get yourself over the the Chronicle of Higher Ed forums and look through some of the old threads. You will see this is a common question (surprise!) and there are a lot of perspectives there.
posted by LarryC at 12:21 PM on May 10

The spots are probably hard to get, but you could try teaching history in an anglophone cégep. It's september-to-may, with january off, unless you teach in the summer term. Dawson's the largest anglo cégep, but there's Heritage in Gatineau (if your husband were to come work for The Company in our charming company town of Ottawa) and other cégeps in Montreal.

A friend of mine got his PhD in psychology, and he's now teaching cégep and liking it quite a bit.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 5:06 PM on May 10

This doesn't answer your question, but for the coming year (and possibly if you do find yourself in a solitary job) could you set up a shared workspace with a few other people? I should think you're not alone in feeling this way.
posted by trig at 8:45 PM on May 10

This might not be all that helpful for a Canadian, but perhaps there's an analogue.

A couple of my History-PhD friends ended up working in Washington for the NSA, reviewing and declassifying documents for the public record. The job uses many of the skills you list, pays well, and is low-stress. The default is to approve unless there is compelling state reason, and they often have to construct arguments on behalf of public interest as to why declassification is the better choice. It's interesting work. FWIW.
posted by Miko at 8:51 PM on May 10

It is a longshot, but CSIS seems to always looking for librarians/researchers.
posted by saucysault at 5:32 PM on May 11