Where are the History PhDs?

As I search for what I can do to happily earn an income post-PhD, I’ve looked to others for inspiration. I’ve found examples of history PhDs outside the academy, but most of them have been online. When I think of my own grad school colleagues, most of those who’ve finished are teaching; they are, at least for the moment, making academia work. Most of my contemporaries haven’t left the university world. This leaves me feeling a bit isolated, even though I know there are a great many like me out there. “Out there” just doesn’t include many people I already know.

Hmm.

A couple weeks back I asked a woman whose cohort was 2 or 3 years ahead of mine, feeling sure she’d be able to list a few post-academics. But she couldn’t. I’m not sure what to make of this. I guess I’m glad for them and hope they are feeling fulfilled and adequately compensated. Selfishly, I would have preferred to know I wasn’t (mostly) alone in this transition.

But, disappointed and surprised as I was, this doesn’t change my mind about my own journey. By now, eleven months after my defence, I’ve figured out that no matter the state of the academic job market—it isn’t great, even if my peers are making a better showing of it than others—I want nothing to do with it.

I’m encouraged that the American Historical Association, which hosts an enormous annual conference the first week of the year, recognizes the need for post-PhD success stories. Starting tomorrow afternoon, there’s a “mini-conference” called the Malleable PhD happening in New Orleans. Some of my friends will attend. If you’re there, let me know how it goes!

Meanwhile, I often think of the humanities-ish PhDs I’ve met this past year who successfully made the transition, and over the next week I’ll talk with a couple more. Although I always learn a lot from the non-PhDs I talk to, the particularities of my educational past makes finding people who’ve gone through what I have that much more important.