What Can You Do With a Degree in Anthropology?

There are many career paths in anthropology, including teaching, museum curating, zoos, social services, nature conservation, government, forensic pathology, and international development, to name a few. In the major, you develop skills and abilities that make you very marketable in a wide variety of jobs from emergency management to science education. Cultural competence—the ability to understand and communicate about and across cultural differences—is a key skill anthropology majors learn that prepares them for many jobs in today's global world.

Brooklyn College alumni with a degree in anthropology work in health care services, education, social work, cultural resource management, and many other fields. Some of these career paths in anthropology require you to have a minimum degree of a master's.

Top Employers for Brooklyn College Anthropology Internships and Full-Time Jobs for Alumni (Based on LinkedIn)

There is a lot of information available on LinkedIn, including profiles of more than 600 Brooklyn College alumni who graduated with a degree in anthropology. Join the Brooklyn College Alumni group and see where alumni are currently working, their skill sets, and their career progression. You can filter further based on employer, class year, etc.

Keep in mind, this list isn't inclusive of all the opportunities available to anthropology students. Use the Magner Career Center resources to your advantage to find opportunities that align with your interests!

Selected Alumni Profiles

Freddy Peccerelli '96

Forensic Anthropologist
Guatemalan Forensic Anthro Foundation

Anumta Raheel '19

Medical Student
Downstate Medical School

Jordan Dejongh '17

Special Events Coordinator
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Addam Amauri Jones '16

Spanish Teacher
Parkside Preparatory Academy

Career Guides and Articles

Here are some career guides and articles that share information on career options open to anthropology majors:

What is the average salary in the anthropology field?

There are several different aspects of anthropology that affect the average salary, such as education level, industry type, experience, and location. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary was $62,410 per year in May 2018. The best approach to determining possible salaries is to research them on websites like Indeed.com and Salary.com.

I am an anthropology major. What skills will I build during my studies?

As anthropology majors, students learn vital skills that are applicable to any job. Anthropology majors learn to analyze data, communicate effectively, write persuasively, and think critically. In classes students will gain skills interviewing, conducting original research, cataloguing objects, evaluating published data, and working in teams.

See the following resources for information on these skills:

On-Campus Resources

There are a number of resources on campus that will help you learn more about anthropology career options. Attend events and keep current on the resources available to you.

Magner Career Center

The Magner Career Center has a wealth of information on everything you need to get started in your career, help with résumés, an internships database, job fairs, etc.

The center hosts frequent career events that may be of interest to you, which include the Museum Careers Panel and Careers with Social Impact.
You can get matched with alumni who majored in anthropology at Brooklyn College to learn about their experiences, get career advice, and develop a professional relationship.
Miriam Loyd is the liaison to the School of Natural and Behavioral Sciences and someone you can meet with for career guidance. For more information or to set up appointments, visit the center's website, call 718.951.5696, or visit 1303 James Hall.

Department of Anthropology Resources

The department website has a section for students that includes information about upcoming events.
Professor Jillian Cavanaugh is the department chair and is a contact when applying for graduate school. Associate Professor Naomi Schiller is the director of undergraduate anthropology majors and is available to help. Associate Professor Patricia Antoniello is available to advise pre-med students and those interested in health-related fields.
The department hosts workshops regularly on topics, including "So You're Thinking About Grad School" and "What Can You Do With an Anthropology Degree?"
Follow the department on social media—Twitter and Instagram—for information about events and opportunities.

Student Clubs

To find all clubs and the latest events, search for the names of clubs and sign in to RSVP for the events you would like to attend.

Off-Campus Resources

American Anthropological Association

The American Anthropological Association provides detailed information for those interested in going into the field of anthropology. The association has a search engine for careers in the field and internships.

Vault Guides

Review the Vault Guides to learn about careers. For example, you may want to review Vault Guide to Nonprofit Jobs, Vault Career Guide to Curating, Vault Guide to Education, or Vault Guide to Government Jobs, to name a few.

Occupational Network (O*NET)

Occupational Network (O*NET) offers occupational statistics such as salaries and growth potential for all occupations. Additionally, you can search occupations by name or by your own interests, skills, abilities, etc.

Occupational Outlook Handbook

Occupational Outlook Handbook gives you information on the training and education needed for the job, earning potential, expected job prospects, what you would be doing on the job and what the working conditions are like.

Organizations

Students interested in pursuing a career in anthropological or archaeological science would be well served in joining at least one of the many existing anthropology and archaeology organizations:

American Anthropological Association—The homepage of the most prominent professional organization for anthropologists in the world.
American Association of Museums
American Society of Primatologists—An educational organization dedicated to the gathering and exchanging of information about the primate species. Interests range from ecology and behavior to captive management, conservation and virology.
Association for Environmental Archaeology
Canadian Archaeological Association—Useful as a general overview of activity in this discipline in Canada. An index to the publication series of the association, beginning in 1969, is included.
Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology—Researchers will find the two sections of interest on this page: "Physical Anthropology in Canada" and "Net Resources to Physical Anthropology."
Council for British Archaeology—The homepage of the Council for British Archaeology, whose mission is to inform the public "of issues and events" within its field. Links to the full text of British Archaeology (with a two-month time lag for each issue) and CBA Briefing and a list of current council projects are provided.
Cultural Survival—A nonprofit organization founded in 1972 to defend the human rights and cultural autonomy of indigenous peoples and oppressed ethnic minorities. A new online journal, Active Voices, may be reached from this page.
National Association of State Archaeologists—This site covers laws, procedures, educational programs, current research, and a directory of professionals for the Untied States, Puerto Rico, America Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
Royal Anthropological Institute of GreatBritain and Ireland—The oldest anthropological organization in the world, founded in 1843. Notable features include content pages to the institute's Journal and access to Anthropological Index from the late 1960s to date.
Society for American Archaeology—An intercultural organization funded in 1934 and dedicated to the protection, interpretation, and research of the archaeological heritage of the Americas. The full text of the Principles of Archaeological Ethics is available here.
Society for the Anthropology of Religion
Society for Applied Anthropology—Founded in 1941 "to promote the investigation of the principles of human behavior and the application of these principles to contemporary issues and problems." News from the field and reports from the American Indian issues committee are among the features of this page.
Society for Archaeological Sciences—A forum for communication among scholars applying methods from the physical sciences to archaeology and the assessment by the archaeological community of the problems and potential offered by its approach. A special feature is the links to sites on archaeometry.
Society for California Archaeology—An excellent example of the type of site mounted by archaeological societies
Society for Economic Anthropology—This organization takes as its field of study "understanding diversity and change in the economic system of the world." Extracts from the society newsletters are included.
Society for Historical Archaeology—Formed in 1967, the Society for Historical Archaeology is the largest scholarly group concerned with the archaeology of the modern world (A.D. 1400–present). The main focus of the society is the era since the beginning of European exploration. Geographically, the society emphasizes the New World but also includes European exploration and settlement in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.