What do Anthropologists do?

An Anthropologist would typically need to:

• Plan research initiatives to answer questions and explore theories about how nature and culture interact.
• Create data-gathering procedures adapted to a specific specialty or project, and collect data from observations, interviews, and documents.
• Before analyzing data, laboratory samples, and other kinds of information to find patterns regarding human life, culture, and origins, keep track of and organize field observations.
• Prepare reports and convey research findings to organizations in order to advise them on the cultural influence of policies, programs, and products.
• Examine, recover, and preserve evidence of past human cultures’ artifacts, such as skeletal remains, tools, ceramics, cave paintings, and building ruins.
• Connect artifacts to knowledge about former settings to learn about human evolution, history, customs, and living habits.
• Manage archaeological sites, national parks, or historical sites, as well as provide site preservation and public education.
• Examine construction sites to ensure that development plans adhere to government rules for the preservation of archaeological sites.
• Develop general criteria for describing and forecasting the evolution and behavior of cultures and social institutions.
• Create and design novel anthropological research processes.
• Communicate with other anthropologists through writing scholarly articles on the subject and attending professional seminars and conferences.

Standard Work Environment

Anthropologists’ labor vary greatly based on their unique position. Anthropologists who work for museums, enterprises, or government agencies are exposed to a wide range of working environments. Although most Anthropologists work in offices, others work in laboratories or in the field. Anthropologists are frequently seen in libraries and classrooms.

The dress code for anthropologists varies depending on whether they are working in an office, a laboratory, in the field, or at a conference.

Work Schedule

Many anthropologists work full-time during regular business hours in government, research, and consulting firms, museums, and corporations. Anthropologists may be forced to travel and work long hours, including evenings and weekends while conducting fieldwork.

Employers

Your instructors and the placement office at your university can help you get a job in Anthropology. Professional periodicals may occasionally post job openings. You can also apply to colleges and universities, government organizations, and commercial companies that hire Anthropologists directly.

Anthropologists are generally employed by:

• Colleges
• Universities
• Museums
• National Parks
• Technical Aid Programs
• Consultants to the Government
• Consultants to Industries

Unions / Professional Organizations

Professional associations and organizations are an important resource for Anthropologists who want to further their professional development or interact with other professionals in their industry or trade. Membership in one or more of these organizations looks great on your resume and helps to strengthen your credentials and qualifications as an anthropologist.

Workplace Challenges

• Fieldwork can be stressful with travel to remote areas or international locations, lasting four-eight weeks or longer
• Work may involve rugged living conditions, long hours to meet research deadlines, and strenuous physical exertion
• Need to adapt to changing environments, integrate into new social circles, and conduct research in a foreign language
• Limited funding for projects

Suggested Work Experience

All Anthropology programs include an internship to provide students with hands-on experience, and some may even require you to complete a thesis before graduation. Graduates of Anthropology programs typically require field experience as well as instruction in a range of research approaches in order to find work. Many candidates meet this requirement by completing field training, internships, or volunteer work with museums, historical societies, nonprofit organizations, local council offices, and galleries.

While in graduate school, students of Anthropology frequently have the chance to work as research assistants. They usually spend a portion of their graduate program undertaking field research in the community or abroad.

Recommended Qualifications

The majority of master’s degree programs last two years and incorporate field research. Anthropologists with a master’s degree in anthropology, human biology, or social science may be qualified for a variety of occupations. Anthropologists with a bachelor’s or master’s degree may be eligible for research or administrative employment in the government or commercial sector. Bachelor’s degree holders who want to be anthropologists may find work as assistants or fieldworkers.

Although a master’s degree is sufficient for many employees, a Ph.D. may be required for jobs requiring advanced technical knowledge and leadership qualities. Beyond a master’s degree and the completion of a doctorate dissertation, a Ph.D. requires additional years of study. Ph.D. candidates usually spend 12 to 30 months conducting field research for their dissertations.

As soon as feasible, aspiring Anthropologists should begin training in statistics, one or more foreign languages, and a field connected to the Anthropology area of specific interest. A doctorate in Anthropology typically requires at least eight years of full-time study after high school. A portion of this time is frequently spent in the field.

Certifications, Licenses, and Registration

To work as an anthropologist, no credentials or licenses are required. Voluntary certification from an objective, reliable, and reputable organization is frequently viewed as evidence of an individual’s passion and motivation, giving them an advantage when it comes to raises and promotions.

Successful certification programs serve and safeguard the public good by examining individuals who violate the program’s Code of Ethics. They assist a profession ensure its future by gaining trust and respect.

Projected Career Map

Anthropologists are highly trained professionals who typically grow by honing their talents and becoming subject matter experts. They frequently publish books and essays based on their results. Many people believe that gaining the attention of other anthropologists and experts in other subjects is the greatest way to advance. Anthropologists can also lead archaeological excavation teams. They can ascend to the status of Full Professor or Administrator in a college or university.

Job Prospects

Because of the minimal number of openings compared to applicants, aspiring Anthropologists will most certainly encounter severe competition for jobs. Candidates with a Ph.D. or an applied master’s degree and substantial anthropological fieldwork experience will have the best job prospects. Candidates with experience in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, as well as the ability to explain findings to a wide range of audiences, will be in high demand.

Beneficial Professional Development

To keep up with new discoveries in the discipline, anthropologists are required to continue reading and studying throughout their careers.

Some students seek master’s degrees in anthropology and specialize in a field such as visual or medical anthropology. Others, on the other hand, study related fields such as community health, sociology, social research methodologies, politics, human geography, and economics. Specialty coursework is often completed at the graduate level.

Anthropology graduates may also pursue vocational courses such as museum ethnography, counseling, health, and social work. To go beyond entry-level roles, some anthropologists pursue a doctorate in a field such as biophysical (also known as forensics), sociocultural, linguistics, or archaeology.

Conclusion

Anthropology is both the most humanistic and the most scientific of the humanities. Anthropology necessitates the open-mindedness with which one must observe and listen, record in awe, and wonder at what one would not have guessed. Consider an anthropologist to be the human equivalent of Jane Goodall.

Advice from the Wise

Anthropology is never a precise science; the observer never has the same cultural experience as the participant. Anthropology necessitates the open-mindedness with which one must observe and listen, record in awe, and wonder at what one could not have predicted.