Career Path NEED help! EDITED

A big question would be WHAT do you enjoy? Do you enjoy more the event and understanding how those connect or does the human behavior part interest you more?

@Emily the event and understanding for sure!

@Meschelelai I'd suggest the history route then!

@Emily Gah I love you! Thank you for responding!!

You’ve got to love it and you’ve got to accept that your wage will never be very high. It’s highly competitive due to lack of roles, it’s also very specialised so you need to research what specifically you want to do and where you could do it (eg work location afterwards). My first degree was BA Archaeology and only 3 people on the course went into history/archaeology as a career path afterwards. Most of us either did other degrees after or went on to corporate roles. From my immediate friendship group who all graduated in archaeology; I’m an crash test engineer now, one is an estate agent, one works for the council, one runs a wine business and one went on to do conservation work at a regional museum. I’d personally say history is more applicable to other fields than anthropology. I use my skills every day in work though like research, writing and analytical thinking.

You could also try to double major or do a history major with a minor in anthropology. It honestly doesn’t matter what your degree is in unless you go to get more degrees and then as long as it’s in a related field you’re able to do interviews and get into programs. I mean my BA is in literature and my MA is in theatre education - I didn’t need a theater or education major or minor for undergrad and I still got into my program. My friend is a speech pathologist and got her doctorate for it after being a philosophy major so like whatever you do won’t really matter in the long run.

I have a BA in Liberal Arts and a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies and worked as an archaeologist on Cyprus for five summers and then went into museums and ultimately made my way up to director (taking a break right now for my baby). I'm married to an archaeologist who is currently employed by a Tribal Historic Preservation office. He has his BA in Archaeology of the Ancient Near East and an MA in Anthropology/Archaeology. There are very few of our former classmates still in the field as professionals, but those who are have made it to state archaeologist, professor of art history, etc. It is a competitive field that you do really need to love because it can be hard to find well paid employment but it can be done! your BA, History, Anthropology, or any adjacent field will be fine - focus more on what the program offers you in terms of exploration of different paths, networking, internships, etc. What really makes the difference is practical experience and networking.

I have a degree in history, and I wound up working for the county in social services. One thing one of my advisors really recommended was not to go into debt for grad school- only apply to programs that can give you a full fellowship. He sent me an eye-opening article about a woman who took out massive loans to get her PhD, but could only find a job driving a bus. Not to depress you or be negative, but it’s SO hard to get a full-time career in history/anthropology, but at least if you finish grad school without debt, then if you can’t immediately find a career, you won’t have debt on your back. For me, I really wanted to be a historian, and had really good grades, but I wasn’t accepted at the grad schools that would grant a full fellowship. I found that I really enjoy my job- it has nothing to do with history, but it’s stable, has great benefits, and offers great work life balance.

I think neither would be really beneficial if you are looking for a career. Unless you want to remain in academia for a while I wouldn’t recommend it.