Anthropology News • September 2009

34

A C A D E M I C A F F A I R S

What’s Next?Preparing Anthropology Students for Life after a BA

Cassandra White Georgia State U

In the AAA Code of Ethics section on teaching, the second item contains statements about ethical responsibilities with regard to students’

professional develop-ment. I would like to call attention to two of the items in the list of such responsibilities: “coun-seling students/trainees realistically regarding career opportunities” and “helping students/trainees

when they seek professional placement.” In my experience as a former anthropology under-graduate and graduate student and now as an assistant professor of anthropology, I feel these are two areas on which academic anthropolo-gists should place more emphasis.

For the past three years, I have taught our university’s capstone senior seminar for under-graduate anthropology majors. I devote the majority of this course to focusing on the ques-tion that is on most undergraduate students’ minds: “What’s next?” Though many students plan to go to graduate school, few have a clear understanding of what the application process is like or what they will do with their advanced degree. Some have never heard the terms GRE or CV, and most are shocked to hear how many years are typically required to complete an anthropology PhD (8.5, according to a 2005–06 Center for Innovation in Graduate Education survey). Undergraduate students generally are unfamiliar with the (often grim) job prospects for academic anthropolo-gists. Students who are not pursuing further academic study particularly need guidance in finding positions where they can utilize their knowledge and skills, as non-academic insti-tutions that might hire them rarely advertise for an “anthropologist.” Providing students with practical knowledge about how to craft a career within or outside academia is as much our responsibility to students as instilling them with knowledge of anthropological history, theory and methods.

CVs, Grant Proposals and AbstractsI have experimented with a number of teaching strategies toward the goal of preparing students for life after the BA, including asking students to create and present professional documents to become familiar with formats such as hypo-thetical grant proposals, conference abstracts, and papers for conference-style panels. In intro-ducing an assignment where students draft CVs and personal statements, I am careful to empha-

size that this is an exercise that is more about the structure of these documents than about how much the students have achieved, since for some the preparation of these documents alone can generate anxiety and self-doubt. Students who have had to work to pay for their tuition and fees rarely have time for extracurricular activities, research, study abroad or volunteer work, and often worry that they have no appropriate expe-rience to add to a CV. However, this assignment can also be motivational. A few students have told me they sought more anthropological expe-rience through academic research or an intern-ship after noticing perceived gaps in their CVs. As much can be learned from peers, this year my students also wrote self-reflexive essays about their experiences as anthropology majors and agreed to make them available to those inter-ested in majoring in anthropology in the future.

Career GuidanceIn addition to discussing the many positive aspects of teaching and research, I also try to convey to students the intellectual, emotional and financial challenges they will face if they choose the academic road, even if the economy improves and the number of available academic jobs increases. I provide anecdotal informa-tion about highly accomplished colleagues who dropped out of PhD programs in anthropology after dedicating several years to the process; or who completed their PhDs but could not find tenure-track teaching or research positions; or who, having worked diligently for years on the tenure-track, were denied tenure. I suggest ways they might increase their options for employ-ment in the future, through seeking additional skill sets or complementary degrees (such as a Master’s in Public Health or Certificate in Non-Profit Management).

We discuss the many non-academic career options for professionals with anthropological backgrounds. It is important that anthropology majors not discount the valuable and increas-ingly marketable skills they have acquired, such as knowledge of ethnographic research methods. Each semester I invite former students and colleagues to the class to talk openly about their choices, the process of becoming an anthro-

pologist, and using anthropological knowledge in their everyday lives. I try to include speakers with a range of experiences—from those who are passionate about the role of anthropology in their careers to those who found frustration or disillusionment in the process of applying to graduate programs or in attempting to trans-late their academic background in anthropology into a career or job with a living wage. Readings, guest lectures and class discussions are useful

in getting students to think about the variety of options available to them after graduation, from service work (in non-profits or government organizations) to cultural resource management to market research.

As mentors to our undergraduate students, I believe we have an ethical responsibility to go beyond simply being available to write recom-mendation letters. We must strive to provide students with greater access to career-building opportunities, as is common practice in other disciplines. Assisting students in finding anthro-pological field schools appropriate to their subfield of interest is one step toward this aim. At Georgia State, in addition to three field schools in anthropology, our department has an internship program through which students can receive academic credit for volunteer and other internship positions with a variety of organiza-tions in the US and abroad. These internships require students to use anthropological skills in

applied settings or to interpret their experiences through an anthropological lens. In some cases, students have obtained paid positions at the organizations where they once interned.

Despite the difficulties faced both by students who seek graduate degrees in anthropology and those who seek employment with a BA, I am not suggesting we discourage students from majoring in anthropology or continuing their studies in advanced degree programs. Anthropology offers tools and perspectives for understanding the world that I feel are unpar-alleled by any other field of study. Providing a balanced view of what students might expect in the years that follow their BA degree is not meant to temper their enthusiasm for this field; instead, it is meant to better prepare them to make decisions about their future that will allow them to keep their interest in and commitment to anthropology alive.

Cassandra White is an assistant professor of anthropology at Georgia State University in Atlanta. She loves teaching anthropology and has directed ethnographic field schools in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is the author of An Uncertain Cure: Living with Leprosy in Brazil (2009).

T E A C H I N G S T R A T E G I E S

As mentors to our

undergraduate students, I

believe we have an ethical

responsibility to go beyond

simply being available to write

recommendation letters.