Careers in Anthropology

Anthropology degrees lead to careers in fields such as business, education, government, and health sciences.   Some examples of career paths for anthropologists are:

  • Academic: Anthropologists teach and conduct research in academic departments  at all levels of education from high schools to colleges and universities.
  • Business: Anthropologists are skilled in qualitative and quantitative data analysis.  These skills have applications in areas such as market research, finding consumer needs, and serving diverse communities.  Many archaeologists work in private cultural resource management (CRM), environmental consulting, or engineering firms, ensuring that planned development projects comply with federal and state archaeological and environmental legislation.
  • Government: Governmental organizations use anthropologists in planning, research, and managerial capacities.  Anthropologists in government contribute to diverse areas such as international development, cultural resource management, natural resource management, diplomacy, and defense and national security. The federal government is one of the largest non-academic employers of anthropologists.
  • Health and Biomedical Sciences: Anthropologists bring unique expertise in cultural awareness and holistic human biology to careers in medical schools and schools of public health.  Forensic anthropologists perform work in identifying human remains for law enforcement agencies and museums.
  • Community-based and International Development Organizations: Anthropologists help to design and implement education, health and development programs for international organizations.  These are often non-profit organizations with humanitarian goals.  Anthropologists also have skills that can be useful for local communities and non-governmental organizations.

The following organizations provide more information on careers in Anthropology: