Historians

Salary Overview

Job Outlook (2024–2034)

Key Skills

Knowledge Areas

What They Do

• Gather historical data from sources such as archives, court records, diaries, news files, and photographs, as well as from books, pamphlets, and periodicals.
• Prepare publications and exhibits, or review those prepared by others, to ensure their historical accuracy.
• Speak to various groups, organizations, and clubs to promote the aims and activities of historical societies.
• Organize data, and analyze and interpret its authenticity and relative significance.
• Organize information for publication and for other means of dissemination, such as via storage media or the Internet.
• Conduct historical research as a basis for the identification, conservation, and reconstruction of historic places and materials.
• Research the history of a particular country or region, or of a specific time period.
• Conduct historical research, and publish or present findings and theories.

Tools & Technology

★ = Hot Technology (in-demand)

Education Requirements

Typical entry-level education: Master's Degree

Related Careers

Careers with the highest skill compatibility from Historians.

A Day in the Life

A historian's typical day depends heavily on their employment setting, but most involve a blend of research, writing, and analysis. Academic historians split their time between teaching courses, conducting original research, and writing scholarly articles or books for publication. A morning might be spent in university archives examining century-old letters, government documents, or photographs relevant to a current research project. Afternoon hours could involve lecturing to undergraduate students, leading graduate seminars, or meeting with dissertation advisees. Historians working in museums or cultural institutions spend time curating exhibits, writing interpretive materials, and consulting on historical accuracy for displays. Government and corporate historians research organizational history, prepare reports, and respond to information requests from leadership or the public. Writing is a constant across all settings—whether drafting journal articles, book chapters, grant proposals, or public history content. Peer review of colleagues' work, committee meetings, and professional conference preparation fill additional hours throughout the week.

Work Environment

Academic historians work primarily in university offices, classrooms, libraries, and archives, with significant flexibility in scheduling their research and writing time. The work is intellectually stimulating but can be solitary, with long hours spent reading, analyzing sources, and writing in quiet environments. Museum and public history settings offer more social interaction, with historians engaging with visitors, donors, community groups, and media. Government historians work in agency offices with more structured schedules, though research projects may involve travel to archives and historical sites. Fieldwork can take historians to locations around the world, from archaeological sites to government archives in foreign countries. The academic job market is highly competitive, creating significant stress during the years-long process of securing a tenure-track position. Conference travel is important for networking and presenting research, typically requiring several trips per year to regional and national meetings. Remote work has become increasingly feasible as more archival collections are digitized and made available online.

Career Path & Advancement

A bachelor's degree in history provides the foundation, but most professional historian positions require a master's degree or PhD. Undergraduate studies build skills in research methodology, historiography, critical analysis, and academic writing across multiple historical periods and regions. Master's programs typically take 2 years and qualify graduates for positions in public history, archival work, museums, and some community college teaching roles. A PhD is generally required for tenure-track university positions and takes 5-8 years beyond the bachelor's degree, including coursework, comprehensive exams, and a doctoral dissertation based on original research. Postdoctoral fellowships and visiting professor positions often serve as stepping stones to permanent academic appointments. In academia, the promotion path moves from assistant professor to associate professor with tenure, and eventually to full professor. Historians outside academia advance through roles like senior researcher, department head, chief historian, or museum director. Building a publication record and establishing expertise in a specific historical period or methodology is crucial for advancement in any setting.

Specializations

History offers countless specialization areas defined by time period, geographic region, and thematic focus. Political and diplomatic historians study government systems, international relations, treaties, and the exercise of power across civilizations. Social historians examine the lives of ordinary people, exploring class structures, family life, gender roles, and community dynamics throughout different eras. Economic historians analyze trade patterns, labor movements, industrial development, and the evolution of financial systems. Military historians research wars, strategy, technology, and the experiences of soldiers and civilians during armed conflicts. Public historians work outside traditional academia, creating museum exhibits, historical documentaries, walking tours, and community heritage projects. Digital historians use computational methods including text mining, network analysis, and geographic information systems to analyze large historical datasets. Oral historians record and preserve firsthand accounts from living witnesses to significant events, building archives of personal narratives for future researchers.

Pros & Cons

Industry Insight

The academic job market for historians remains extremely competitive, with far more PhD graduates than available tenure-track positions each year. However, demand for historically trained professionals is growing in sectors like public policy, journalism, corporate heritage management, and technology ethics. Digital humanities and computational history are expanding the field's methodological toolkit, creating opportunities for historians comfortable with data analysis and technology. Museums and cultural heritage organizations are increasingly focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in their historical narratives, creating demand for historians with expertise in underrepresented communities. Podcasts, documentaries, and popular history books have expanded public interest in history, creating new platforms for historians to reach broad audiences. Government agencies and nonprofits employ historians for policy research, regulatory compliance, and cultural resource management. The growth of genealogy and family history as a popular hobby has created commercial opportunities for trained historians. Artificial intelligence tools for document transcription and analysis are changing research workflows, though historical interpretation and narrative construction remain distinctly human skills.