26, no. 1 (Fall 1994): 34-48 To the Editor Search

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THE MLA's 1991–92 survey of employment trends among recent graduates of modern language doctoral program is the eighth in a series begun in 1977. The following pages summarize the findings of the latest survey and, where possible, compare them with the results of earlier surveys. Since foreign languages are mostly considered collectively in the main text, an appendix details the employment status of graduates of degree programs in a range of languages and language groups.

In fall 1992 the MLA's research programs office sent questionnaires to 514 modern language doctorate-granting departments inquiring into the number and current employment status of students who received PhDs or DAs between 1 September 1991 and 31 August 1992. Follow-up telephone calls in late 1992 and early 1993 drew responses from most of the departments that did not respond to the initial survey mailing. Of the 261 foreign language departments approached 97% eventually provided data, as did 97% of the 146 English departments, 98% of the 41 comparative literature programs, and 94% of the 66 linguistics programs. ¹ The overall response rate of 97% indicates that, for all practical purposes, the 1991–92 placement survey, like the earlier ones, represents a census of the doctorates granted by all modern language departments during the academic year. Moreover, the 16 modern language departments not responding to the 1991–92 survey resemble the responding departments in their known institutional characteristics (i.e., source of funding, institutional type, and institutional size). Thus, there is no reason to think their absence biases the findings.

Table 1 summarizes several institutional characteristics of the departments responding to the survey. The table indicates that approximately 6 in 10 doctorate-granting foreign language departments are in public institutions, over three-quarters are in research I universities, ² and 95% are in institutions with more than 5,000 full- and part-time students. Foreign language departments are somewhat more likely than the other types of departments to be in private institution and more likely than English departments to be in research I universities. Thus, doctorate-granting foreign language, comparative literature, and linguistics departments are in similar types of institutions, except that foreign language departments are somewhat more likely than linguistics departments to be in private institutions.

Of the doctorate-granting language departments responding to the 1991–92 survey, 13% did not grant any PhDs of DAs during 1991–92. The percentage of such programs varies by type, as the following figures indicate:

Foreign language and linguistics departments are less likely than English or comparative literature departments to have granted PhDs during 1991–92. Among foreign language departments, those in very large or large institutions (i.e., those enrolling more than 5,000 students) are more likely than those in smaller institutions to have granted degrees (85% and 83% vs. 46%). Further, foreign language departments in public institutions are somewhat more likely than those in private institutions to have granted degrees (87% vs. 75%), as are those in research I universities (85% vs. 71%) of other foreign language departments). To some degree, the last difference result from the larger size of public and research I universities. When findings from the 1991–92 survey are discussed in the remainder of this report, only the degree programs in departments granting one or more PhDs during 1991–92 are considered.

PhD Degrees Granted

The figures compiled annually by the National Research Council (NRC) for all fields represent the best information available on PhDs granted. Using NRC numbers, figures 1 and 2 indicate, from top to bottom, the number of PhDs granted in English, foreign languages, linguistics, and comparative literature from 1969–70 through 1991–92, the latest year for which figures are available. ³ Figure 1 shows the total number of degrees granted annually in each type of language program, while figure 2 shows the number granted per 100 degrees granted in all fields. The similarity of the two figures indicates that increases and decreases in the number of degrees granted in the four language fields do not merely reflect changes in the total number of PhDs granted.

The two figures indicate that the number of degrees granted in English and foreign languages increased during the early 1970s, continuing a trend begun in the late 1950s. After 1973–74, the number of degrees granted in both fields declined sharply until 1979–80 for foreign languages and 1981–82 for English. Thereafter the number declined far more slowly until 1987–88, when it began to increase again. Between 1987–88 and 1991–92 the number of degrees granted in foreign languages increased by 28%, while the number granted in English increased by 26%. The number of degrees granted in linguistics and comparative literature has remained fairly stable, though both fields show substantial increases in the number of degrees granted between 1989–90 and 1991–92 (59% for linguistics and 68% for comparative literature). In the light of the current contraction of the academic job market, the recent increases in the number of modern language degrees granted are a mixed blessing.

The MLA's most recent placement survey was designed to cover all students receiving their PhDs during 1991–92. Figure 3 indicates, however, that the MLA's count of PhDs granted in foreign languages is higher than the NRC's count, even though some departments did not participate in the MLA survey. The same has been true of most previous surveys, as figure 3 shows. With two exceptions (1976–77) and 1978–79), the MLA's PhD counts are higher than those of the NRC. Since the NRC figures are the best available, the findings suggest that the MLA placement surveys usually include more than one academic year's PhDs, presumably because the date on which degrees are awarded in sometimes difficult to ascertain. Such overcounting is not a significant problem for the 1991–92 survey, however; the discrepancy between the MLA and NRC counts is not only small but smaller than in most previous surveys.

A potentially more serious problem is the question of when the new PhDs included in the 1991–92 survey were looking for jobs. If one assumes that the students were on the job market during the 1991–92 academic year, then the survey findings tell us something about the job market in that year. Some graduate students, however, get jobs the academic year before they receive their degrees; therefore, the experience of some graduates included in the 1991–92 survey data would have been acquired during 1990–91. Since these students are likely to be in the minority, it seems to conclude that, by and large, the survey findings relate to 1991–92, a year declining opportunities in academia.

The first column of table 2 indicates the number of PhDs granted by each of the broad types of language programs, while the next three columns present several averages for each group. ⁴ The figures indicate that the largest number of degrees was awarded in English, with considerably fewer granted in foreign languages; nonetheless, the number granted in foreign languages is substantially larger than the number granted in linguistics and comparative literature. The averages tell a somewhat different story: English departments grant the largest number of degrees, on average, while foreign language departments grant the fewest, with linguistics and comparative literature falling somewhere in between. The differences in numbers of degrees granted probably arise from the fact that English doctoral programs tend to be much larger than those in other modern languages (Huber 16–18).

Eighty percent of the foreign language programs in the sample granted between 1 and 3 degrees during 1991–92, with none granting more than 9; only 7% granted 6 or more. Table 3 details the average and total number of degrees by different types of foreign language degree programs and indicates how programs are grouped in subsequent discussion. Where possible, the eight groups in bold print are distinguished; when larger numbers are necessary to produce meaningful figures, the three language groups granting the fewest degrees (i.e., Slavic, Near Eastern, and Asian) are combined into a single group for less commonly taught languages.

Not surprisingly, the right-hand column of table 3 indicates that the largest number of degree programs —64% of all programs—are in the commonly taught modern languages listed at the top of the table. Such programs also grant the largest number of degrees (69% of the total). But the average numbers of degrees granted by programs in the eight major groups are similar. Although programs in Near Eastern and Asian languages grant fewer degrees, on average, than programs in the commonly taught languages, the differences are not overwhelming and probably stem from the small size of degree programs in these languages.

Table 4 shows the percentage of degrees granted to men, and women, and members of major racial and ethnic groups by the 4 broad types of language programs. At least some data by sex have been gathered since the MLA's first placement survey in 1976–77; ⁵ data by racial and ethnic group were gathered for the first time in 1991–92. Unfortunately, in collecting these data we failed to include a distinct response category for nonresident degree recipients who returned to their countries of origin on completing their degrees. Where departments identified such students, we separated them out, as the last row of table 4 indicates, but most respondents did not. As a result of this oversight, the final data may overestimate the number and percentage of minority degree recipients.

Women and whites received the majority of degrees in all four groups included in table 4. Linguistics programs are somewhat less likely to grant degrees to women than the other three types of programs, while linguistics and foreign language programs are more likely than English or comparative literature programs to grant to minorities. In linguistics 21% of the degrees granted in 1991–92 went to Asians, while in foreign languages 18% went to Hispanics. Figure 4 shows the number of foreign language degrees granted to men and women through time. The number of degrees granted to women consistently outstripped the number granted to men, but the disproportion was considerably greater in 1991–92 than it was during the late 1970s and early 1980s. During the latter period, the number of degrees granted to men and women rose and fell in tandem. Since 1981–82, however, the number of degrees granted to women has grown noticeably, while the number granted to men has tended to decline. The number of degrees granted to women in 1991–92 is 24% larger than the number granted in 1981–82, while the number granted to men is virtually unchanged.

Table 5 shows the percentage of degrees granted to men and women by different types of foreign language programs, while table 6 shows the percentage granted to major racial and ethnic groups. In the first four program categories listed in table 5, the majority of degrees were granted to women, while in Asian, Middle Eastern, and classical language programs the majority of degrees went to men. Whites received the vast majority of degrees in all types of language programs except two: Spanish and Portuguese and Asian languages. Not surprisingly, half of the degrees granted by the former in 1991–92 went to Hispanics, while over half of the degrees granted in Asian languages went to Asians. In fact, of the foreign language degrees received by Hispanics in 1991–92, 87% were from Spanish and Portuguese programs, while 52% of the foreign language degrees received by Asians were in Asian languages.

Placement of 1991–92 PhDs

Table 7 shows the percentage of PhD recipients in each of the four broad language fields who found jobs in major employment sectors. The format adopted for the presentation of findings from the 1986–87 survey has been preserved (Huber, Pinney, Laurence, and Knight). Thus, linguistics and comparative literature are considered separate fields instead of subfields of the foreign language grouping, and disparate job categories are combined into three major clusters: employment in postsecondary institutions, employment in other sectors, and unemployment. In addition, the base used to calculate the percentages under these three headings in Tables 7–10 excludes new PhDs of unknown employment status.

The two percentages at the bottom of the tables, in contrast, are based on the total number of new PhDs, including those for whom no employment status was reported. Such percentages can be misleading, because they rest on the improbable assumption that none of the new PhDs in the “unknown” group have full-time or tenure-track teaching positions. ⁶ Since this assumption does not appear justified, the “unknown” group was excluded from the base used to calculate the percentages presented in the main body of the table. This procedure is not perfect either, however, since it assumes that the employment status of the unknown group is like that of the “known” group. But while this supposition is unlikely, ⁷ it is more tenable than the premise that no members of the unknown group are employed. Consequently, subsequent discussion deals only with the percentage of new PhDs of known employment status.

Table 7 indicates that four-fifths or more of the 1991–92 PhDs in each of the 4 broad language groups found jobs in postsecondary institutions. Of those with degrees from foreign language programs, approximately half have tenure-track positions and 70% have full-time teaching positions. In addition, 7% are unemployed and 10% are employed outside the academy in sectors such as secondary education, government, and private business. Respondents were asked to indicate whether new PhDs working in these sectors had full-time or part-time employment. Since the number employed part-time was very low—4 out of 64—the few PhDs in these subcategories were combined with those in the full-time subcategories. The employment pattern among the foreign language PhDs is not very different from that for the other three fields included in table 7.

Table 8 shows the employment status of the 1991–92 PhDs who received their degrees from six different types of language programs. It indicates that PhDs with degrees from Spanish and Portuguese programs were more likely than PhDs with other types of degrees to obtain tenure-track positions. Further, the majority of new PhDs with degrees from Spanish and Portuguese or French and Italian programs have tenure-track positions, compared with just over a third of those with degrees in Germanic or the less commonly taught languages and a fifth of those with degrees in classics. Almost all PhDs with degrees from Spanish and Portuguese or French and Italian programs, compared with 72% to 77% of those with degrees in other languages, obtained positions in postsecondary institutions. ⁸ Degree recipients in languages where academic opportunities are more limited are more likely to be employed in other employment sectors or to be unemployed. Thus, new PhDs with degrees in Germanic or less commonly taught languages, as well as those with degrees from “other” programs, are more likely than those from Spanish and Portuguese or French and Italian programs to be employed in business, government, and the not-for-profit sector. They, along with new PhDs in classics, are also more likely to be unemployed, especially when compared with the 1991–92 PhDs from Spanish and Portuguese programs, whose unemployment rate is strikingly low. These findings suggest that the job market is different for new PhDs with degrees in different languages. In 1991–92, the job market was best for PhDs in Spanish, while it was poorest for PhDs with degrees in classics and Germanic and less commonly taught languages.

Changes through Time

Table 9 summarizes the findings of the eight foreign language PhD placement surveys the MLA has undertaken since 1976–77. ⁹ Before turning to it, a brief consideration of the broader employment context at the time of each survey may be instructive. Figure 5 describes this by showing the number of PhDs granted during the 1975–94 period (bottom line of figure) and the number of positions advertised in the four issues of the MLA's Job Information List (JIL). Although neither of these figures represents an accurate estimate of the actual number of job seekers and available jobs, they do provide some indication of the state of the job market in foreign languages. When the two lines are far apart the market is probably better for job seekers than when the lines are closer together.

Each of the dotted vertical lines in figure 5 marks a year in which a placement survey was undertaken. Comparing these lines indicates that the number of positions advertised in the JIL in 1991–92 is roughly equal to that in 1983–84 (close to 1,200 positions). The number of PhDs granted is also similar, with more degrees awarded in 1991–92 than in 1983–84 (620 vs. 549). In addition to suggesting similarities in the 1983–84 and 1991–92 job markets, figure 5 indicates in that 1986–87 is the survey year in which the market was most favorable to job seekers. The number of positions advertised in the JIL was near its 1988–89 peak, and the number of PhDs granted was close to its own point.

Given these contextual considerations, it is especially important to compare the 1991–92 findings with the 1986–87 and the 1983–84 findings. Table 9 and figure 6, which shows the percentage of new PhDs through time in key employment categories, indicate that the percentage of new PhDs with tenure-track positions in 1991–92 is equivalent to that for 1986–87 and higher than in all other previous surveys. At the same time, the percentage unemployed and in part-time teaching positions in 1991–92 is relatively high when compared with the 1986–87 figures. Further, the percentage of PhDs employed outside the academy is lower in 1991–92 than it has ever been. In fact, a key difference between the 1983–84 findings and the 1991–92 findings is that this percentage is almost 50% higher in the earlier year. In this context, it may be worth noting that almost all those listed as unemployed in the 1991–92 survey were said to be seeking academic employment (30 out of 39). The other key difference between the 1983–84 and 1991–92 surveys is that the percentage of new PhDs with tenure-track positions is higher in the later year.

A comparison of the 1991–92 findings with those from earlier surveys suggests that the 1991–92 PhDs were more successful than their counterparts in the late 1970s and early 1980s at getting tenure-track positions and are no more likely to be unemployed, perhaps because entry-level opportunities have declined less during the early 1990s than those at higher ranks. The disparity in opportunities is evident in the October JIL listings the total number of which declined by 27% between 1986–87 and 1991–92, while the number of junior positions advertised in the October lists declined by only 11% between 1986 and 1991. In assessing these findings, it is important to remember that in the two years since the 1991–92 PhDs were reported to be seeking employment, the academic job market has continued to deteriorate.

Table 10 compares employment status by sex in three years: 1991–92, the year of the most recent survey; 1983–84, the year of the middecade survey; and 1979–80, the year when separate data on men and women were first collected. Although women received the majority of foreign language PhDs is all three years, 1991–92 is the only one in which women were more likely than men to have tenure-track appointments and to hold academic positions, though they were no more likely to have full-time teaching appointments, a situation that emerged because, as in past years, women were more likely than men to teach part-time. In addition, for the first time, women were less likely than men to be unemployed. The percentages for the two unemployment subcategories suggest that women were still more likely than men to be tied to a specific geographic area, though the disproportion is lower than earlier years. ¹⁰ Moreover, the disparity in the ratio of men and women with part-time positions in 1991–92 (1 to 2.8) was greater than in early years (1 to 1.4 in 1983–84 and 1 to 1.7 in 1979–80). Despite this increase, the findings suggest that women are no longer disadvantaged vis-à-vis men in seeking entry-level positions.

Figures 7, 8, and 9 show the percentage of new PhDs through time in each of three employment categories or subcategories for four language groupings: Spanish and Portuguese, French and Italian, Germanic languages, and the three less commonly taught language groups (Slavic, Asian, and Middle Eastern). ¹¹ Figure 7 indicates that in three of the language groupings the percentage of new PhDs with tenure-track positions declined between 1977–78 and 1981–82 and increased between 1981–82 and 1991–92. This pattern is entirely consistent for Spanish and Portuguese and consistent in all but the first or last year for French and Italian and the less commonly taught languages. Although the percentage with tenure-track positions declined less during the late 1970s in French and Italian than in Spanish and Portuguese and the less commonly taught languages, the subsequent increase was greatest in Spanish and Portuguese. The Germanic languages do not conform to the general pattern; among new PhDs in these languages, the percentage with tenure-track positions declined between 1977–78 and 1979–80 and fluctuated thereafter.

Figure 7 also indicates that in every year shown the percentage of new PhDs with tenure-track positions was greatest in Spanish and Portuguese, followed closely by French and Italian in 1981–82 and 1986–87. The percentage is clearly the lowest for Germanic languages in two of the years shown (1979–80 and 1983–84) and for the less commonly taught languages in one of the years shown (1981–82). In the other four years the percentage is roughly equal for the two groupings. Figure 8 indicates that in all years shown there is an inverse relation between the percentage of new PhDs with tenure-track positions and the percentage with jobs in other employment sectors (e.g., secondary education, government, not-for-profit institutions, and business). Thus, the percentage with jobs in other sectors tends to be comparatively low in Spanish and Portuguese and comparatively high in the Germanic and less commonly taught languages.

Figure 9 indicates that the percentage unemployed tended to decline fairly steadily for three of the language groupings between 1977–78 and 1983–84 and hold steady at a low level thereafter. Spanish and Portuguese exhibits the pattern consistently, while new PhDs in French and Italian show an atypically high unemployment rate in 1983–84. New PhDs in the less commonly taught languages also conform to the pattern, except that for them the percentage unemployed rose sharply in 1991–92. As was the case for tenure-track positions, new PhDs in Germanic languages are atypical. Their unemployment rate remained relatively high through 1981–82, dropped in 1983–84 and 1986–87, and rose again in 1991–92.

These findings confirm a conclusion reached at the end of the last section: the job market is different for new PhDs with degrees in different languages. Since the early 1980s, the job market has improved steadily for new PhDs in Spanish and Portuguese, while for those in French and Italian it improved until the late 1980s and then apparently leveled off. For new PhDs in the less commonly taught languages the picture is less positive; although opportunities for tenure-track employment improved in the early 1980s, they have remained unchanged since then and appear to be no better than they were in 1977–78. New PhDs in the Germanic languages have been faced with the most unstable market. Until the late 1980s tenure-track openings appear to have fluctuated at levels lower than in 1977–78, and unemployment was relatively high in most of these years. Although academic opportunities increased in 1986–87 and 1991–92, the percentage in tenure-track positions in 1991–92 was no higher than it was in 1977–78. In short, the findings presented here indicate that during the 1980s and early 1990s the academic job market was more hospitable to new PhDs in the major Romance languages than to those with degrees in other languages.

The author is Director of Research for the Modern Language Association.

Appendix

1991–92 Placement Figures for Individual Degree Programs

Table A-1 contains the 1991–92 placement figures for degree programs in major languages or language groups, as well as for linguistics and comparative literature. The first three rows of the table show the number of degree programs granting PhDs, the number of degrees granted to men and women, and the percentage of women among the recipients. The main body of the table presents these figures for each type of program and employment category or cluster: the number of men, the number of women, and, in bold, the total number of new PhDs in that grouping. The sum of the male and female figures does not equal the total in each category, since for some new PhDs employment status was reported, but not gender. Therefore, the total may be larger than the sum of the male and female figures, with one exception: in the category of new PhDs whose employment status is unknown, the total may be smaller.

The bottom rows of the table present several percentages. The base for the first 4 percentages, which are considered the more reliable, is the number of new PhDs for whom an employment status was reported. The final two rows indicate the percentage of all new PhDs with tenure-track or full-time teaching positions; here the base includes new PhDs whose employment status is known and those whose status is unknown.

Notes

¹ Initially, questionnaires were mailed to only 30 linguistics programs. Thanks to the assistance of Margaret Reynolds at the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), we were able to assemble a complete list of linguistic programs in June 1993. During the summer, with the assistance of LSA staff, we gathered data from the programs not included in the MLA's initial mailing.

² Research I university is a designation developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Such universities differ from other doctorate-granting institutions in the number of doctorates they grant annually and the amount of federal support for research and development they receive. For the purpose of the foundation's 1987 classification of institutions, a research I university awarded at least 50 PhDs in 1983–84 and received at least $33.5 million in federal support in 1983, 1984, and 1985 (“Carnegie”).

³ Because no earlier figures are available, figures 1 and 2 include PhD figures for comparative literature from 1976 onward. Further, to conform to the definition of foreign languages used in the placement surveys, the NRC figures for modern foreign languages have been adjusted to include PhDs granted in classics. The PhDs figures were compiled by the NRC Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel and are published in annual reports entitled “Summary Report 19xx: Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities” (Washington, DC: Nat'l. Acad.).

⁴ The interquartile range describes the largest and smallest number of PhDs granted by that half of the responding programs located around the midpoint of the distribution of number of PhDs granted.

⁵ Data on employment status were not collected separately for men and women until the 1979–80 survey.

⁶ Percentages based on all PhDs also make comparisons through time difficult because the number of people of unknown employment status is a source of uncontrolled variation. For example, the percentages listed at the bottom of table 9 suggest that the percentages of new PhDs holding tenure-track appointments was approximately equal in 1986–87 and in 1983–84. The accuracy of this apparent equity is impossible to assess, however, since the percentage of people whose employment status is unknown was much higher in 1986–87 than in 1983–84. And, in fact, if one eliminates the “unknown” groups, the percentage with tenure-track appointments is considerably higher in 1986–87 than in 1983–84.

⁷ Usually, for example, those whose employment status is unknown are more likely to be unemployed than those whose employment status is known.

⁸ New PhDs in French or Italian are less likely those in Spanish or Portuguese to have full-time teaching positions, but they are as likely to be employed in postsecondary institutions because the former are more likely than the latter to have part-time positions.

⁹ The increase in the number of programs granting one or more PhDs in 1991–92 may be more apparent than real. The nature of degree programs was defined in more detail in the 1991–92 survey than in previous surveys.

¹⁰ In 1991–92, 1.23 women were seeking employment anywhere for every one seeking in a specific area, compared with 2.33 men. The equivalent figures for women in 1983–84 and 1979–80, when more were tied to a specific area than seeking anywhere, are 0.62 and 0.54.

¹¹ The 1976–77 survey is not included in the figures because complete data on the less commonly taught languages could not be collected in that year.

Work Cited

“Carnegie Foundation's Classification of More Than 3,300 Institutions of Higher Education.” Chronicle of Higher Education 8 July 1987: 22–30.

Hubber, Bettina J. “Recent Anticipated Growth in Foreign Language Doctoral Programs: Findings from the MLA's 1990 Survey.” ADLFL Bulletin 25.1 (1993): 13–53.

Huber, Bettina J., Denise M. Pinney, David E. Laurence, and Denise Bourassa Knight. “MLA Surveys of PhD Placement: Most Recent Findings and Decade-Long Trends.” ADFL Bulletin 20.3 (1989): 20–30. [Show Article]

Figure 1:
Number of PhDs Granted by Type of Language Program and Year

Figure 2:
PhDs Granted Annually by Each Type of Language Program per 100 PhDs Granted

Figure 3:
MLA and NRC Estimates of Number of PhDs Granted in Foreign Languages and Literatures

Figure 4:
Number of Foreign Language PhDs Granted to Men and Women by Year