Academic Opportunity in Anthropology, 1975‐90¹

Since 1960 there has been a steady decline in the number of children born each year in the United States. As a result, the number of eighteen‐ to twenty‐one‐year‐old adults will decline from approximately seventeen million in 1980 to fourteen million in 1990. Even with an increasing percentage of college entrances, there will still be a large decrease in the college student population. New faculty will not be required, and even “growth” disciplines such as anthropology will suffer severely from the lack of available academic positions for new Ph.D. 's. Anthropology, which has had a rapid increase in the number of Ph.D.'s awarded yearly, will even by the most optimistic projections be unable to accommodate the large majority of new Ph.D.'s after 1982 in college or university positions. It appears most likely that the Ph.D.'s who are not able to find academic positions will be able to find employment in administrative and staff positions.