About this site
In 2004, the American Historical Association released a study on the career patterns of PhDs in history who had received their degrees between 1990 and 2004. Only 32% of these PhDs had obtained and currently held a position in a History Department.
Between 1990 and 2004, the majority of people who earned PhDs in history left academe.
Beyond Academe was created in 2003 to address this shift in the historical profession. The site seeks to educate historians about their options outside of academe. Beyond Academe also provides detailed assistance to historians who are looking for jobs outside of the academy.
Believing that the historical profession suffers when it is defined narrowly, the creators of Beyond Academe actively encourage faculty members, departments and professional organizations to view the historical profession in broader terms.
Note on the Creators of this Site:
The creators of this site (Alexandra Lord and Julie Taddeo) both possess PhDs in history. Lexi left academia after four years of teaching and Julie left after six years of teaching.
The site is currently maintained by Lexi Lord. If you have any questions about the site, please direct them to her at beyondacademe@yahoo.com.
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Why Just Historians?
Acknowledgements
Index
How To Navigate and Use this Site
Who We Are
Why just historians?
 We recognize that the overproduction and under-utilization of PhDs is endemic in America and that little has been done by graduate schools and professional organizations to address this problem. While we think it would be great if we could provide suggestions and advice for everyone with a PhD, we also recognize our limitations. In creating this website, we have tried to give very specific advice-tailored for historians of all types. We think this site can be used by PhDs in other fields but you will find that much of the information we provide is intended directly for historians.
How should this site be used?
This site is intended to be read and used over a period of time. Because there is a great deal of material, we suggest that you begin slowly by looking at the parts of the site which are most relevant to your current situation. If you are  beginning a job search or just starting to think about leaving academia, you may want to read the site in its entirety but you will then need to return at different intervals to read and think about specific parts of the site.
We'd love to hear from you with any suggestions or general comments or questions which you may have but we cannot offer you specific job advice (email us at beyondacademe@yahoo.com). We created this site to show you how to search for a job but it is up to you to do the actual job search!
How to Navigate and Explore this Site
This site has four components. You can go to any part of the site by clicking on the words on the toolbar at the top of the page or by clicking on the toolbars at the bottom of the page.
About introduces you to the site; this page is the  About page. Useful Tools provides you with information about finding a job outside of academia. Outside the Box introduces you to historians who work outside of academia; it also provides sample cases of historians who are making the transition out of academia. Contact provides you with our email address as well as news, such as the dates for career workshops or panels at universities or conferences, deadlines for internships etc. If you hear about any of these, please let us know and we will post the information.
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Why Just Historians?
Index
Acknowledgements
How To Navigate and Use this Site
Who We Are
Index
Because Beyond Academe has grown, we have added an index of all the sections. You can click  back to this index at any point as you navigate through the site.
Useful Tools:
Combating Barriers
FAQs
Suggested Reading and Websites
CV to Resume
Teaching Skill Set for Resumes
Cover Letters
Rules of Conduct
How to Begin a Job Search
Outside the Box:
Introduction
Real Jobs, Real Historians
Proving that Nothing is Too Obscure
Famous Historians Outside the Box
Fictional Characters (PhDs) Outside the Box
The Opening of the Academic Mind
Contact:
Contact Information
News of Interest to Historians
Beyond Academe in the News
A Plug for Wrk4Us
Conferences, Workshops and Internships
Hindsight or An Historian Looks Back
A Final Thank You
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Why Just Historians?
Acknowledgements
How To Navigate and Use this Site
Who We Are
Acknowledgements - In creating and updating this site, we spoke to and learned from an extraordinary number of people both in and outside of academia. Several people were especially helpful: John Swann, Suzanne Junod, Victoria Harden, Michael Lynn, Paula Foster Chambers, Darryl Stevens, Themie Pantazis, Hadass Sheffer, Laura Ettinger, Marla Miller. We also thank Michelle Wu for helping us design this site.
This site has been endorsed by The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation seeks to increase awareness of the value of humanities training and education to society at large, and in so doing, to expand career opportunities for PhDs both inside and outside the academy. We are pleased to receive this endorsement and we encourage you to look at their website as well as ours.
This site has been commended by the Organization of American Historians.
This site was last updated in November 2007.
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Why Just Historians?
Acknowledgements
How To Navigate and Use this Site
Who We Are
Who we are
 Alexandra M. Lord
Areas of Expertise
My graduate training was in early modern British medical history, specifically the history of gynecology. I have published as well as given papers on topics ranging from early medical theories of menstruation and medical fraud (Munchausen's Syndrome) to the history of epidemiology and the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919.
Currently, I am working on a book on the history of federally funded sex education in the United States.
Why I Became an Historian
As a child, I read mainly British books (everything from Enid Blyton to E. Nesbit ) and my father loved to take us to see British films and plays. My favorite paper dolls included a set of Henry VIII's wives (yes, really!) and I wanted to be Elizabeth I.
In college, I combined my love of history with my second love, art history, and did a combined major. After college, I worked at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore (during college, I had an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art ). Gradually I realized that while I was still passionate about art, I wanted to be an historian first and foremost.
I went to The University of Wisconsin at Madison for my doctorate because I was especially interested in medical history (having studied under Anthony Wohl at Vassar, a great British and medical historian). I completed my doctorate in six years; my dissertation explored the rise of the man-midwife in Scotland and England during the 18th century.
Leaving Academia
In 2000, after two years teaching in a tenure-track position and two years as a visiting professor, I decided to leave academia.
Top Five Reasons to Leave Academia
Location, location, location! - I'm finally living in the city of my choice.
Ability to Have a Wider Impact on Society - I love being able to show physicians, Congressional legislators, reporters, and public health experts why history is relevant.
Money - The higher salary which came with leaving academia has enabled me to travel, to give money to charities, to repay my student loans, and, yes, to buy more books. I'll also be frank and admit that I have enjoyed being able to shop at places like Ann Taylor.
Good Health Insurance - A few years ago, I developed a serious stress fracture while completing a marathon. I also developed a distorted sense of smell for no discernible reason. While there is nothing more exciting for a medical historian than to become a Famous Case Study, I cannot imagine what would have happened if I had had no or limited health insurance.
Opportunity to Pursue Varied Interests - Academia favors the narrowly focused specialist. My current position allows me to explore a range of topics and because my 9-5 job is clearly demarcated from my personal time, I am able to pursue and do whatever I please in my private life. In short, I have a richer and more fulfilling professional and personal life since leaving academia.
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Why Just Historians?
Acknowledgements
How To Navigate and Use this Site
Index
Who We Are
Julie Anne Taddeo
 I confess that I owe my academic career to Masterpiece Theatre. As a young girl I fantasized about the lives of the Victorian scullery maids and royalty I saw depicted on Sunday nights. While other teens at school were sneaking peeks at Judy Blume's latest novel, I was discovering David Copperfield, Jane Eyre, and Phineas Phinn. I hoped one day to share this love of novels, and history in general, with younger minds.
I received my PhD from the University of Rochester in less than 7 years, during which time I presented conference papers, published articles, and adjuncted at several colleges. I wasn't disappointed when my first full-time job offer was for a "visiting" assistant professor position in Philadelphia because I was certain that a year at a well-known university would lead to better things. I then "visited" for six years! I fell in love with Philadelphia, was a short flight from my aging parents, won teaching awards from students, and published my book, but still I couldn't land the tenure track job of my dreams. I never expected a job at an Ivy League college, but I did yearn for a position at a small college with a minimum 3/3 load, and that would recognize my success with students. I did turn down four offers (three of them tenure-track), a move which I never told my advisor and which some colleagues would see as professional suicide. I simply did not want to live in towns without book stores, independent movie theaters, museums, or an airport. So I stayed a "visitor" until last year when I finally decided that I would not renew my contract for the upcoming academic year.
During those six years I worked without a retirement package. When I took the job at 30, after living on adjunct pay, a salary without a 401K didn't seem like a huge problem. Now I know better. I also had to quit for personal reasons. During those six years I also lived apart from my husband. We never managed to find jobs in the same city let alone on the same coast. At first it seemed like a small sacrifice, even exciting to have a long-distance relationship. In the end I realized we were paying a huge price (financial and emotional). Since he had a tenure track job at a prestigious lab in the Bay Area and could support us both, whereas I could barely support myself on my own, I decided to move and start a new professional and personal life.
I would be dishonest if I said that this past year has been an easy transition. In terms of my personal life, however, I finally eat and sleep with the person I love on a daily basis. We now travel together on European vacations rather than spending our money on long-distance calls and brief cross-country reunion flights. The VCR is no longer my best friend and we can finally contemplate having a family. Finding a career outside of academia, however, has been much more difficult than I imagined. Moving to a college town filled with PhDs means that I am up against a lot of stiff competition. Also, I have had a difficult time leaving behind my old identity. I liked being "Professor Taddeo" but in my new city it took over a year before anyone recognized me in public. Emails from former students make me yearn for the days when I was a role model for young women and young men.
Because there are some aspects of academia I still like, I've decided to live both in and outside the box. I am teaching part-time at the local university, I still give talks at academic conferences, and I am the Assistant Director at the university's Center for British Studies. I miss a full-timer's salary and status but I'm learning new and useful administrative skills and I'm networking, patiently waiting for the economy to improve. I'm also pursuing a new type of writing career. I'm completing a guide about long-distance relationships-a subject so many academic couples know only too well. I've also used this past year to promote my scholarly book on Bloomsbury and sexuality to audiences in bookstores and museums. I can honestly say that giving a talk at the Museum of Sex in New York is just as, if not more, exciting than presenting at the AHA! I've also felt more energized about historical research lately; without the pressing concerns of contract renewal or tenure hanging over my head, I've been investigating and writing about topics that combine my love of Britain, popular culture and gender issues.
Recently I decided to expand my networking contacts by doing volunteer work at the local museum of women's history. I was reluctant to offer my services free of charge, feeling a bit like one of those Victorian ladies with too much time on her hands. To my surprise, this has been a rewarding experience in that I've met some great women, promoted an opera on Susan B. Anthony, and am now creating educational outreach programs for young girls. I'm using my background in women's studies to teach younger audiences about the history of women worldwide. I also started my own group for graduate students and junior academics in the Bay Area who are exploring career options beyond academia.
I've discovered that I like the aggressive and informal side of my personality that academia forced me to repress. Along the way I've met so many people without higher degrees who share my love of history and literature. My professional biography is still being written, but whether I choose to write about Victorian scullery maids or long-distance love in the 21st century, I know I'll be in good company.
Return to the top of this page
Why Just Historians?
Acknowledgements
Index
How To Navigate and Use this Site
Who We Are
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