<p>I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about Cultural Anthropology as a college major and as a career (i.e. what do you do with it if you major in it?)</p>
<p>My daughter is a senior in high school and she was all set to major in Elementary Education. She just sent in her college applications with that listed as her major and also is doing an internship with a local elementary school in which she spends half the day in a first grade classroom and the other half at the high school finishing up her graduation requirements. </p>
<p>As part of the internship, she has to go to the career exploration center, and they had her take one of those computer surveys to see what careers you might be good at and interested in. And, lo and behold, elementary education was at the top of the list. But also listed was Cultural Anthropology, which she had never heard of. So, she started looking into that and now she is so excited about it and wants to study that instead. She has this idea that she is going to travel to different places and study their culture, and then write or talk to people about it. Is that really a job?</p>
<p>To me it sounds like a cool 4 years at college studying something really interesting, and then a career at the mall because she won't be able to find a job in the field. I'm hoping I'm wrong about that, but I just want her to be aware of the choice she is making. So any advice, pros or cons, would be very much appreciated.</p>
<p>I majored in anthropology- cultural track and medical track. I’m now in a master of public health with an emphasis on global women’s health. </p>
<p>What do you do with a cultural anthropology degree? Pretty much whatever you want. It’s an extremely flexible degree. I was offered jobs in a library, in a senator’s office, and at a nonprofit when I graduated but chose to do grad school instead. </p>
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<p>Kind of, but to do the kind of field work she’s looking at you need a PhD (at the VERY least, a MA/MS) and it’s primarily grant-funded. What she’ll more likely do is get a job that allows her to travel and interact with people in the context of something other than anthropological field work. FWIW, I did field work in undergrad in a foreign country. The majority of my time was spent transcribing and coding. It’s really not as much fun as it sounds.</p>
<p>Remember, most students change their major so she’s not really planning out her entire life.</p>
<p>MY undergraduate degree is in journalism. I worked in that field for a year and a half and hated every minute of it. I got a graduate degree in sociology, which is closely related to anthropology. It is a cool field but pretty much worthless in the real world. I’d stick with elementary education and maybe minor or double major in anthropology if I were her. She won’t get rich as a teacher but she’ll likely never be out of a job, either.
ETA: S1 is finishing up a double major in sports journalism and history. History was kind of an afterthought - he already had most of the lower-level classes through AP credit so he decided to add it. He’ll probably never work in the field but has loved those classes.</p>
<p>^ It’s not easy right now to get a job as a teacher. Not at all. The jobs are hard to come by. A lot of my friends are moving across the country to get jobs in education, if at all.</p>
<p>A lot of cultural anthropologists these days are doing urban anthropology as opposed to visiting Amazon rainforest communities, and many others are employed by market research companies to do things like analyze consumer behavior at the mall. So she could end up at the mall, but not in retail!</p>
<p>I can’t speak for jobs but I took several anthropology classes and loved them. My daughter is taking a cultural geography course as well a physical anthropology course at the community college for fun. It’s really good information that does seem to trickle into all walks of life.</p>
<p>I’d honestly not stress it now. If she’s an entering freshman then she’s got time to try things out before declaring. The majority of kids change their majors multiple times and colleges do expect it. I’d let her try out some classes and see what she thinks. They aren’t easy courses… tons of geography, science and memorization.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. And really, I would not be concerned at all if it weren’t for two factors. The first is that some of her favorite colleges for elementary education do not offer an Anthropology major, so that will have an impact on where she decides to attend. And secondly, at some of the schools, with an elementary education major, they have you taking education and other required classes right away. Basically the 4 year program is mapped out for you with little room for electives. So it would be hard for her to try some classes, or switch back into education if she doesn’t start there.</p>
<p>Also, if she does decide to major in Anthropology, would she need to tell the schools now, or after she gets accepted, or when she steps on campus? My concern is that she has applied to the School of Education, not Liberal Arts.</p>
<p>And, would Cultural Anthropology make sense for a kid who really, really struggles in math? I don’t know how much Statistics or analyzing data is involved. And a proficiency in other languages seems like it might be useful, and my daughter actually flunked out of Spanish. She tells me now that it is because she didn’t study, and of course, she will do so much better in college. :)</p>
<p>There’s not really any math involved in cultural anthro. And no, it’s not necessary to learn a foreign language- most “anthropologists” work domestically and not abroad. </p>
<p>You really shouldn’t have any issue switching majors at any college- save a few but they’re few and far between. </p>
<p>Fwiw, even if she wants to do cultural anthropology, there is no reason to dismiss a school because it only offers anthro rather than specific subfields. Most anthro departments make you take the core anthro classes (biological and cultural, sometimes arch and linguistic too but less common) and then are fairly flexible on what courses fulfill what requirements. In my department, everyone graduated with a degree that said “anthropology” and then took coursework that was specific to what we wanted.</p>
<p>Sorry I wasn’t clear. Some of the schools don’t offer Anthropology as a major at all - I wasn’t referring to specific subfields. </p>
<p>Thanks for mentioning that most work domestically and not abroad. That’s not what she wants to do at all. It sounds like she really needs to do some more research into the field. Good news about the math, though!</p>
<p>I wasn’t sure so my statement was just general </p>
<p>FWIW, I think you’re focusing far too heavily on getting a job as an anthropologist. Most anthropology majors do not go in to anthropology (most people of X major do not go in to that same field post-grad unless it’s something relatively specific like engineering, journalism, education, etc). Just off the top of my head, my friends who graduated with me in anthropology are now doing curatorial work at a museum, one is working at a bone yard, one is working as a HR person at a non-profit, several are in grad school for something other than anthro (MSW, Law, MPH, etc), and one works at the UN.</p>
<p>I can definitely see how a major in Anthropology would be a great lead-in to a job in a lot of different fields. I get that. I am only focused on getting a job as an Anthropologist because that is what my daughter is focused on, and I am just wondering how realistic it is for her to expect that she could find a job doing the kinds of things she wants to do. THAT was the big attraction to the field for her. If she was going to end up doing the other things you listed, I think she would rather be a teacher. But, again, it’s her choice and she needs to look at all of her options. But at least she can make an informed decision and not one based on her dreams of what the career would be.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your help. It’s much more useful hearing from someone who has actually studied the subject than trying to glean whatever info. we can from random websites.</p>
<p>Just let her know that if that is her goal- to do field work in a foreign country or whatever- she WILL need to learn a 2nd language and she will need an advanced degree.</p>
<p>OP,
Don’t stress too much about your daughter wanting to work as an anthropologist . She is excited to have discovered something new and interesting !
Just remember that most kids still in high school still have no idea of the vast array of career paths in the real world because they haven’t heard about them yet! Just like your daughter had never heard if cultural anthropology before now…</p>
<p>OP- maybe your D is just reacting to being 17 or 18 years old, and not sure she wants to commit to elementary education. So whether it’s anthropology, urban planning, ethnomusicology, or genetic counseling… she’s just a HS kid and is only now learning about all the cool things that are out there in the real world.</p>
<p>If I walk around my block and categorize what my neighbors do for a living, only the dental hygienist, the speech therapist, and the pediatrician have careers that I’d even heard of at age 17. The people in my parents neighborhood growing up owned small businesses (carpet installation, wholesale grocery distributors, etc.) or were teachers and librarians. I got to college and the world exploded-- people studying cool things and professors encouraging students to apply for fellowships to go overseas, do fieldwork in subjects I’d never knew existed, etc.</p>
<p>Chances are your D won’t become a cultural anthropologist (but maybe she will); but perhaps this is her way of expressing her concerns about being boxed in to elementary ed this early in her life.</p>
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