Psychology professor or History professor - which has a better job outlook / security?

Question

I love history and psychology. I've decided I'd like to consider becoming a professor in one of these two disciplines. I'd like to know which one has a better job outlook (number of jobs available (supply) vs. number of people looking for jobs (demand)). And what kind of job security (tenure) can one expect?

I'm assuming psychology, just because of versatility (research probably pays more, you can treat patients, etc...), is more secure, but I'd like to get others opinions.

I'd like to make clear that I already know both positions aren't great in terms of availability and tenure, so please don't just reply stating this fact. Thanks.

Answer 1

Your assumption is correct, but not really for the right reasons. Research separately doesn't pay at all, so I'm not sure why you are saying that it pays more, and I don't know of any psychology professors who treat patients. The reason psychology might be a little bit better is that it is usually a more popular major, with more students going on for masters' and doctoral degrees, so it is in need of greater numbers of faculty members. Of course, there are more psychologists than historians being trained, but most of those with doctorates choose to be practitioners, which is not the case with historians! On the flip side, at least at my university, there seem to be more historians nearing retirement, so that there may continue to be a need there as well. It is hard for me to judge if this is a common phenomenon.

About tenure - the first hurdle, of course, is finding a tenure-track job. Many in the social sciences and humanities never do find one of these, going from one "visiting" job to another, or working as adjunct faculty year after year at multiple schools. Assuming you do find one, the next challenge is getting tenure. The difficulty of this will depend upon you particular school's requirements and standards. My advice to you on this would be to overshoot the requirements by a good amount. First of all, tenure is a moving target, and the requirements everywhere keep getting harder. If you aim for what was required when you started, you may find that the standards have gotten tougher by the time you become eligible, and you aren't able to catch up. Secondly, pay attention to the intangibles. You need to have people on your side, not just the stated number of publications. If your record is marginal, they will support you if they want you around, but if they don't think you are an asset to the school, watch out! You can expect tenure to take about six or seven years. After that, there is a great deal of job security, since they can only let you go for egregious behavior or if your department is eliminated (unlikely to happen in fields like the ones you mention).

Answer 2

Probably psych. I have a friend with a PH D in History and all she could find was one or two courses to teach in MA and she only made like $8K a year and then she gave up.

Of course maybe she didn't do it right.

My Poly Sci teacher taught night division at my school and daytimes at Pepperdine and he was an Elector for Nixon.

One of my Theater History teachers also taught at like three school just to make ends meet.

You probably have to do this all the time unless you get a grant.

Psych grants may be easier to get.

But you're still going to have problems.

With a Clinical Pscy degree, however, you can join a operation like Friends of the Family and counsel people days and nights and then teach part time until they give you more classes.

Do remember Psychology is divided into research and clinical.

As a Research Psych you can't practise in the outside world unless you pass a test and get a license and that means knowing theraphy techniques and terms.

As a Research Psych you generally do a dissertation breaking new ground.

As a Clinical Psych you generally just have an Orals Board from the staff.

Answer 3

I think you assumed correctly... there are many applications for psychology opposed to history. Unless of course you are able to find a branch of history that isn't often taught or is in demand (economics history, history of advertising, or even history of psychology?).

I would think the requirements for psychology to be more demanding and you would be going to school a lot longer. If you are just wanting to treat people, you might think of social work and narrow your field.

Answer 4

Psychology because you have more to research due to the fact it is a perpetually changing and evolving field. You can also change from professorship to practice.

Answer 5

Neither.