A world of falling humanities: new research charts their global academic decline. From the report:

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) gathers a wealth of data on the education-related investments and outcomes of its member nations, permitting comparisons among countries regarding the share of degrees earned in various academic fields. As of 2018, the United States was below the OECD average in the share of all bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees that are awarded to students of the humanities. In most nations, including the United States, the humanities’ share of degrees conferred decreased from 2015 to 2018.

Findings and Trends
  • In 2018, using the pertinent OECD categories…, 5.0% of all bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States were conferred on students in the humanities. Among the 35 OECD countries for which data are available, the United States ranked 15th in the proportion of humanities degrees awarded. The mean share of all bachelor’s degrees awarded in the humanities was 5.4%.
  • With respect to the share of bachelor’s degrees conferred in the humanities, the United States was most similar to Slovenia, Israel, and Finland. The U.S. share was about seven percentage points smaller than the leaders in conferring humanities degrees, Luxembourg and France, which each awarded approximately 12% of their bachelor’s degrees in humanities disciplines.
  • At 3.4%, the United States ranked 24th among OECD nations in the share of master’s and professional degrees awarded to students in the humanities in 2018. This share was similar to that of Spain and Lithuania, while the mean share among the 35 OECD countries was 4.8%.
  • Of the 33 OECD countries that provided data on doctoral degrees (Italy and the Netherlands supply information only for lower-level degrees), the United States ranked 19th in the share of doctoral degrees awarded in the humanities in 2018. While 7.2% of all doctoral degrees in the United States were awarded in the humanities, the mean share among the countries supplying data was 8.3%.
  • From 2015 to 2018, the mean share of degrees awarded in OECD countries to humanities students decreased at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Among bachelor’s degree recipients, the humanities’ share shrank 5% (from 5.7% to 5.4%), with just eight of the 35 countries reporting an increase in share. Declines in the humanities’ share of graduate degrees were even larger. The share of master’s degrees contracted 11% (from 5.4% to 4.8% of the degrees), and the share of doctoral degrees decreased 9% (from 9.1% to 8.3%).

For other posts on humanities degrees, see here.