How Do I Become a Professional Anthropologist?
1
December 2006 • Anthropology News 37 CAREER DEVELOPMENT guistics and 5% bio- logical anthropol- ogy; 70 women and 57 men responded. Respondents pro- vided the following advice and infor- mation. Don’t Rush into Graduate School When asked if stu- dents should enroll in a graduate pro- gram immediately after receiving their undergraduate de- gree or wait and gain life experience before applying for graduate school, 85% of informants urged students to gain life experience before enrolling in graduate school! What Matters Most in Your Application When asked what the most important qualifi- cations are to gain entry into graduate school C AREER DEVELOPMENT FAITH WARNER, JOANNA SALICKI AND JUDITH STEINHILPER BLOOMSBURG U Chances are you were pointed in the right di- rection or assisted in some way by Bloomsburg University undergraduate anthropology stu- dents at one of the AAA’s annual meetings over the past ten years. BU undergraduates regularly volunteer at these meetings, serving the orga- nization, developing as professionals, learning about the discipline and the people who prac- tice it, and meeting anthropologists from pro- spective graduate programs. In 2004, the BU anthropology club decided to transform the volunteer experience of its undergraduates into an opportunity for research on advice from AAA members for undergraduate students who want to succeed in anthropology at the graduate and professional level. In particular, we wanted to collect information to help under- graduates make decisions about graduate study in the discipline. Surveying AAA Members During the 2004 AAA annual meeting in Atlan- ta, BU undergraduates asked 88 meeting par- How Do I Become a Professional Anthropologist? ticipants for their professional advice to other undergraduates on career success in anthropol- ogy. Because of the reduced attendance during the Atlanta meeting, the BU undergraduates emailed the same survey to a random sample of anthropologists listed in the AAA Guide to Pro- grams and Departments. There were 39 responses to the emailed survey. Of the 127 respondents to the survey, 65% identified themselves as primarily specializing in cultural anthropology, 19% archaeology, 11% lin- in anthropology, informants were asked to select from three of seven components of graduate school preparedness. The frequency results indicate that letters of recommenda- tion (26%) and personal statements (23%) are considered to be the most important aspects of a graduate school application, followed by equally weighted GPA and GRE scores (17%). Less important were fieldwork (11%), publi- cations and presentations (5%) and four-field training (1%). Where Are the Most Job Opportunities? When asked which geographical regions will have the greatest employment opportunities in ten years, Latin America (24%) was consid- ered to have the most potential, followed by Asia (21%), the Middle East (19%) and North America (17%). Africa (9%), Europe (6%) and Oceana/Pacific (2%) were considered to have less employment potential. Of subdisciplines, cultural anthropology (48%) and biological anthropology (31%) were consid- ered to have the most job opportunities in ten years, followed by archaeological anthropology (17%) and linguistic anthropology (2%), (2% of respondents wrote in applied anthropology). What Are the Best Graduate Schools? Although the sample size for individuals specializing in linguistic and biological an- thropology was too small to provide results, cultural anthropology respondents ranked Berkeley, University of Chicago and Univer- sity of Michigan as the top ranking graduate programs in their subfield; archaeological an- thropologists ranked University of Michigan, University of Arizona, Berkeley and Arizona State University as the top ranking in their subfield. This survey research was conducted with permission and feedback from then AAA President Liz Brumfiel, AAA Academic Relations Director Kathleen Terry- Sharp and AAA Executive Director William Davis. The Bloomsburg University Foundation and the BU Com- munity Government Organization provided financial support for 2004 travel to Atlanta to conduct research and to present preliminary results at the 2006 State System of Higher Education Undergraduate Anthro- pology Conference. Project participants include Faith Warner (faculty director; [email protected]), Jo- anna Salicki, Judy Steinhilper, Stephanie Boyce, Brandi Burlingame, Sharon Cabana and Sara Fisher. DeeAnne Wymer accompanied the students to Atlanta as advisor to the BU Anthropology Club. [L]etters of recommendation (26%) and personal statements (23%) are considered to be the most important aspects of a graduate school application, followed by equally weighted GPA and GRE scores (17%). Joanna Salicki and Sharon Cabana strategize about the best places to survey anthro- pologists at the 2004 meetings (Brandi Burlingame and Sara Fisher in the back- ground). Photo courtesy of Faith Warner
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Transcript of How Do I Become a Professional Anthropologist?
December 2006 • Anthropology News
37
C A R E E R D E V E L O P M E N T
guistics and 5% bio-logical anthropol-ogy; 70 women and 57 men responded.
Respondents pro-vided the following advice and infor-mation.
Don’t Rush into Graduate SchoolWhen asked if stu-dents should enroll in a graduate pro-gram immediately after receiving their undergraduate de-gree or wait and gain life experience before applying for graduate school, 85% of informants urged students to gain life experience before enrolling in graduate school!
What Matters Most in Your ApplicationWhen asked what the most important qualifi -cations are to gain entry into graduate school
C A R E E R D E V E L O P M E N T
FAITH WARNER, JOANNA SALICKI AND JUDITH STEINHILPER
BLOOMSBURG U
Chances are you were pointed in the right di-rection or assisted in some way by Bloomsburg University undergraduate anthropology stu-dents at one of the AAA’s annual meetings over the past ten years. BU undergraduates regularly volunteer at these meetings, serving the orga-nization, developing as professionals, learning about the discipline and the people who prac-tice it, and meeting anthropologists from pro-spective graduate programs.
In 2004, the BU anthropology club decided to transform the volunteer experience of its undergraduates into an opportunity for research on advice from AAA members for undergraduate students who want to succeed in anthropology at the graduate and professional level. In particular, we wanted to collect information to help under-graduates make decisions about graduate study in the discipline.
Surveying AAA MembersDuring the 2004 AAA annual meeting in Atlan-ta, BU undergraduates asked 88 meeting par-
How Do I Become a Professional Anthropologist?
ticipants for their professional advice to other undergraduates on career success in anthropol-ogy. Because of the reduced attendance during the Atlanta meeting, the BU undergraduates emailed the same survey to a random sample of anthropologists listed in the AAA Guide to Pro-grams and Departments. There were 39 responses to the emailed survey.
Of the 127 respondents to the survey, 65% identified themselves as primarily specializing in cultural anthropology, 19% archaeology, 11% lin-
in anthropology, informants were asked to select from three of seven components of graduate school preparedness. The frequency results indicate that letters of recommenda-tion (26%) and personal statements (23%) are considered to be the most important aspects of a graduate school application, followed by equally weighted GPA and GRE scores (17%). Less important were fi eldwork (11%), publi-cations and presentations (5%) and four-fi eld training (1%).
Where Are the Most Job Opportunities?When asked which geographical regions will have the greatest employment opportunities in ten years, Latin America (24%) was consid-ered to have the most potential, followed by Asia (21%), the Middle East (19%) and North America (17%). Africa (9%), Europe (6%) and Oceana/Pacifi c (2%) were considered to have less employment potential.
Of subdisciplines, cultural anthropology (48%) and biological anthropology (31%) were consid-ered to have the most job opportunities in ten years, followed by archaeological anthropology
(17%) and linguistic anthropology (2%), (2% of respondents wrote in applied anthropology).
What Are the Best Graduate Schools?Although the sample size for individuals specializing in linguistic and biological an-thropology was too small to provide results, cultural anthropology respondents ranked Berkeley, University of Chicago and Univer-sity of Michigan as the top ranking graduate programs in their subfi eld; archaeological an-thropologists ranked University of Michigan, University of Arizona, Berkeley and Arizona State University as the top ranking in their subfi eld.
This survey research was conducted with permission and feedback from then AAA President Liz Brumfi el, AAA Academic Relations Director Kathleen Terry-Sharp and AAA Executive Director William Davis. The Bloomsburg University Foundation and the BU Com-munity Government Organization provided fi nancial support for 2004 travel to Atlanta to conduct research and to present preliminary results at the 2006 State System of Higher Education Undergraduate Anthro-pology Conference. Project participants include Faith Warner (faculty director; [email protected]), Jo-anna Salicki, Judy Steinhilper, Stephanie Boyce, Brandi Burlingame, Sharon Cabana and Sara Fisher. DeeAnne Wymer accompanied the students to Atlanta as advisor to the BU Anthropology Club.
[L]etters of recommendation (26%) and personal
statements (23%) are considered to be the most
important aspects of a graduate school application,
followed by equally weighted GPA and GRE scores (17%).
Joanna Salicki and Sharon Cabana strategize about the best places to survey anthro-pologists at the 2004 meetings (Brandi Burlingame and Sara Fisher in the back-ground). Photo courtesy of Faith Warner
