Analysis
Visualization 2 and 5: Areas of Study & Ivy League Colleges and Areas of Study & Big Ten Colleges
The top primary category in the Ivy league, over the eight years, was Humanities, covering 19% of the entire data set; 27 postings from Princeton, 29 postings from Yale, and 18 postings from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) over the eight year time frame. The top three primary categories in the Big Ten all came from Penn State postings. This included 13 jobs in the African American category, followed by 11 jobs in Humanities and 9 jobs in African History/Studies. This was over eight years, again half of what Ivy league posted in the eight years for a single category.
Visualization 3: Digital Humanities & Big Ten Colleges
As digital humanities students, the close up on digital humanities job postings is meaningful to investigate. Looking strictly at the Big Ten Consortium, Michigan State University and Rutgers University tie for the most postings between 2011-2018 with 5 posts each. Only 8 of the 14 Big Ten schools are represented because the other 6 have no posts in Digital Humanities. Previously we saw that Penn State has the top three spots for posts based on primary category. This included humanities as a top category, and now it is seen that only 1 post is specified as digital humanities. University of Michigan has zero postings, giving no competition to the regionally close Michigan State which tops the charts in digital humanities posts.
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Visualization 3 and 6: Big Ten Colleges 2011-2018 and Ivy League Colleges 2011-2018
The largest “boom” in the Big Ten over the eight years occured in 2013 with 19 postings from Indiana University. For comparison, the largest “boom” in Ivy League occured in 2018 with 37 postings from Yale University and a close second with 35 postings from Harvard University in 2017. This was close to double what a single big ten school posts in one year. This is based on the eight Ivy League schools compared to the fourteen Big Ten schools.
Having somewhat of an awareness of the 2009 Michigan budget cuts, an increase in job postings, seen between 2011-2013 for Michigan State University and the University of Michigan could be interpreted. Specifically from Michigan State University, a rise in postings could be seen as a reflection of the university’s recovery from the budget cuts. Similarly the University of Michigan had an increase of job postings in 2013, but instead of fluctuating as Michigan State had done for several years prior, job postings had a steady decline.
Looking at the Ivy League line graph of postings from 2011-2018, there is an overall uptrend in postings in 2014. This is comparable to the overall Big Ten uptrend in 2013. As stated, the “boom” from Harvard and Yale in 2014 is the largest spike but it is important to see that 6 of the 8 schools also increased in postings this year. A bar graph visualization of Ivy League posts 2011-2018 shows that since 2014 the total number of postings, across all 8 schools, is steadily increasing.
Visualization 8: Accreditation & Ivy League Colleges
The eight ivy league colleges are divided into two accreditation's. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges includes Yale University, Harvard University, Dartmouth University, and Brown University. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education includes Columbia University, Cornell University, Princeton University, and University of Pennsylvania. When looking at the data cumulatively, The New England Association has a higher number of posts than the Middle States Commission. Middle States Commission had 433 posts vs New England Association with 501. Harvard and Yale are the top schools in posts and both reside in this accreditation.
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Visualization 9:
Visualization 9: Accreditation 2011-2018
***The “null” values in regional accreditation represent colleges that did not belong to an accreditation when we sorted through the data and categorized it through this filter, and were thusly left as null. This data is still valid and deserves to be included in the set, though it simply didn’t fit in with any of the categories that we individually split the data into.
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The “null,” or colleges without accreditation, is the only category that increases its number of job postings each year. The rest decrease each year or fluctuate a little bit.
The Higher Learning Commission and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education tower above the other accreditations in terms of number of job postings. Even in the two’s lowest job posting years, they each had more job postings than any of the other accreditation’s highest job posting year.
Visualizations 11-18:
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In 2011, Humanities was the top Area of Study from the Big Ten schools. Wisconsin, U of M, Iowa, Illinois, Penn State, and Ohio all made postings in this field. In 2012, the top was Humanities again, this time from Wisconsin, U of M, Illinois, Rutgers, Penn State, Ohio, Northwestern, and Indiana. In 2013, the top changed to both American History/Studies and Jewish History/Studies. Minnesota, U of M, Maryland, Penn State, Northwestern, and Indiana all posted about American History/Studies, while Wisconsin, U of M, Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, and Indiana posted for Jewish History/Studies. The top Area in 2014 was Humanities again, thanks to Wisconsin, U of M, Minnesota, Illinois, Rutgers, Penn State, and MSU. In 2015, again, the top desired Area of Study was Humanities, with postings from Wisconsin, U of M, Illinois, Rutgers, Penn State, Northwestern, and Indiana. In 2016, the top Area was History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, with postings from Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Purdue, Northwestern, and MSU. 2017's top Area was African American History/Studies where Iowa, Rutgers, Penn State, Ohio, and Northwestern posted about it. And in 2018, the top Area was African American History/Studies again, with postings from Wisconsin, Rutgers, Penn State, and Northwestern.
2013 had the most postings from the Big Ten colleges, with a total of 89 in their various desired Areas of Study. 2016, on the other hand, had the least, with 70 total.
The University of Nebraska used HNet the least and only posted a total of 10 times over the 8 years we chose to investigate. The Big Ten University that used HNet the most, however, was Indiana State University. They posted 82 times.
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Visualizations 19-21:
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Visualization 19: Area of Study & Accreditation
Visualization 20: Area of Study & Accreditation (2)
Visualization 21: Area of Study & Accreditation (3)
**These visualizations include each of the 19 Areas of Study that appeared in the Top Ten at any point from 2011-2018.
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Visualizations 22 & 23:
Visualization 22: Areas of Study 2011-2018
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The grand total of job postings in North America, between 2011 and 2018, is 9,577 job postings (jp). The year with the most job postings is 2012 with 1,300 jp and the year with the lowest job postings is 2015 with 1,123 jp. The average number of total job postings per year from 2011 to 2018 is 1,197.13 jp while the average number of job postings per area of study (aos) is 88.86 jp.
Some spaces on this highlighted table graph are blank which indicates that there were no job postings for an area of study over a particular year(s). When the areas of study are sorted alphabetically, there are 3 areas where there are high concentrations of no job postings among the various aos and throughout the 2011-2018 time period. The first being from Business History to Demographic History, the second being from Intellectual History to Mexican History/Studies, and the third being from Russian or Soviet History/Studies to Urban Design and Planning. These concentrations of blank spaces seem random when the areas of study are sorted alphabetically. However, when the areas of study are sorted by the number of job posting, either descending or ascending, a pattern appears: the 20 areas of study that have the highest number of job postings have the least amount of blank spaces, Chinese History/Studies has 1 blank space in 2011, and the ones with the lowest number of job postings have the most amount of blank spaces, the total being 960 blank spaces.
Below is the top 5 areas of study that have the most job postings from 2011 to 2018. The list also includes the total number of job postings and the average number of job postings per year.
Top 5 areas of study
1) American History/Studies: total being 1,108 jp and the average being 138.5 job postings per year (jp/py)
2) Humanities: total being 617 jp and the average being 77.1 jp/py
3) African American History/Studies: total being 373 jp and the average being 46.6 jp/py
4) European History/Studies: total being 361 jp and the average being 45.1 jp/py
5) Asian History/Studies: total being 330 jp and the average being 41.6 jp/py
It is important to mention that American History/Studies has both the highest total number of job postings between 2011 and 2018, and the most number of job postings every single year. Also, it is interesting how European History/Studies has a steady decrease in the number of job postings as the years continue. What follows is the bottom 5 areas of study and their total number of job postings from 2011 to 2018.
Bottom 5 areas of study:
1) Nationalism History: the total being 1 jp
2) Dance and History of Dance: the total being 3 jp
3) Demographic History/Studies: the total being 3 jp
4) Comparative Literature: the total being 5 jp
5) Social Work: the total being 5 jp
The only year that a job is posted for a National History position, the area of study with the least amount of job postings over 7 years, was 2018. Then, for every year that a job is posted for a position in Demographic History/Studies there is only 1 job posting.
This graph is based off of the entire final data set and represents the number of job postings per area of study by year. The number of job postings per area of study and per year are shown by number and color with a range of 1/blue to 174/red.
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Visualization 23: Areas of Study by State 2011-2018
The map visualization reflects the findings found in the table graph but in a new perspective. Based off the information inferred from this geographical visual, we can see where the job postings (jp) are located and where they are concentrated throughout North America.
Below is the list of the top 5 areas of study that have the most job postings between 2011 and 2018. This list also includes the total of job postings, the year that had the most job postings, and what state had the most job postings under the listed areas of study.
Top 5 areas of study:
1) American History/Studies: total being 1,108 jp, the most job postings being in 2011 with 174 jp, and New York being the top state with 12 jp
2) Humanities: total being 617 jp, the most job postings being in 2011 with 87 jp, and New York being the top state with 10 jp
3) African American History/Studies: total being 373 jp, the most job postings being in 2017 with 66 jp, and Illinois being the top state with 13 jp
4) European History/Studies: total being 361 jp, the most job postings being in 2012 with 69 jp, and Massachusetts being the top state with 6 jp
5) Asian History/Studies: total being 332 jp, the most job postings being in 2012 with 58 jp, and New York being the top state with 9 jp
The job postings of the top 5 areas of study are widely spread throughout the North American continent. Based on this we can infer that the higher the number of job postings an area of study has, the more widespread and the higher the concentrations of the job postings. But how do the bottom 5 areas of study compare to the top?
Below is the bottom 5 areas of study accompanied by their total, the year with the most job postings, and the state that had the most postings for that area of study.
Bottom 5 areas of study:
1) Nationalism History/Studies: total being 1 jp in 2018 and Quebec being the top, and only, sate
2) Dance and History of Dance: total being 3 jp, the most job postings being in 2016 with 2 jp, and California being the top state
3) Demographic History/Studies: total being 3 jp, the most job postings being in 2011 and 2017 with 1 jp, and California being the top state
4) Comparative Literature: total being 5 jp, the most job postings being in 2017 with 2 jp, and California being the top state
5) Social Work: total being 5 jp, the most job postings being in 2018 with 2 jp, and British Columbia being the top state
In contrast to the top 5, the bottom 5 areas of study are sparsely spread throughout the North American continent. Based off this, we can assume that the areas of study that have a lower number of job postings do not have a more widespread concentration throughout North America than the areas of study that have a high number of job postings.
What follows are the top 5 provinces (Canada) and top 5 states (USA) that have the highest totals of job postings between 2011 and 2018. Each top 5 province and state is listed along with the total number of job postings, what year had the most job postings, and what the top area of study is within that territory.
Top 5 states (provinces) in Canada:
1) Ontario (ON): total being 213 jp, the most job postings being in 2013, and the top area of study being British HIstory/Studies
2) British Columbia (BC): total being 166 jp, the most job postings being in 2011, and the top area of study being Asian History/Studies
3) Quebec (QC): total being 76 jp, the most job postings being in 2011 , and the top area of study being tied between Religious Studies and Theology, European History/Studies, and Canadian History/Studies
4) Alberta (AB): total being 44 jp, the most job postings being in 2012 and 2014, and the top area of study being Asian History/Studies
5) New Brunswick (NB): total being 35, the most job postings being in 2011 and 2012, and the top area of study being Social Sciences and Philosophy in 2011 and Canadian History/Studies in 2012
Top 5 states in the United States:
1) California (CA): total being 1,007 jp, the most job postings being in 2016, and the top area of study being Religious Studies and Theology
2) New York NY): total being 866 jp, the most job postings being in 2015 and 2017, and the top area of study being Humanities in 2015 and a three way tie between Humanities, Asian History/Studies, and American History/Studies in 2017
3) Pennsylvania (PA): total being 633 jp, the most job postings being in 2013, and the top area of study being American History/Studies
4) Massachusetts (MA): total being 580 jp, the most job postings being in 2012, and the top area of study being American History/Studies
5) Illinois (IL): total being 410 jp, the most job postings being in 2012, and the top area of study being African American History/Studies
This graph is based off of the entire final data set and represents the number of job postings per area of study by state. The number of job postings per area of study, separated by year, are shown by the highlighted state(s) and color with a range of 1/blue to 17/red.