Careers for Graduates with a Degree in African American Studies

Diversity of Knowledge Lends Diversity to Job Search

In places like Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery  and Atlanta, there are Civil Rights Institutes  and Museums.  These facilities allow visitors to travel back through time to relive and remember the history and tragedy of race relations in the United States.  Graduates with a degree in African American studies will find they can fill valuable career positions by serving as research assistants, instructors and guides to the thousands that visit these facilities each year.  

The job of museum administrators  is to insure that visitors to these facilities have the opportunity to improve their understanding of African American history in particular and American history in general.    To complete this task, administrators will screen candidates to hire staff that can give meaningful presentations, commentary and can correctly respond to questions about the meaning of the struggle for civil rights in America.  Graduates with a degree in African  American studies have the academic background to fit effectively into these positions. 

The salary for these museum and institute careers will not be six figures but is apt to increase with experience and tenure.  From the beginning of their employment however, graduates with a degree in African American studies will take pride and pleasure in sharing the full history of civil rights with visitors of every national and racial background. 

Civil Rights Division  Graduates with a degree in African American studies may feel a real call to work in federal government departments that help to maintain hard won civil rights in America..  Though key civil rights legislation was passed in the United States as many as forty years ago, transgressions in the area of civil rights continue with frequency today.  Some graduates with a degree in African American studies may wish to follow careers in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department with the hope of using their background knowledge to the betterment of race relations and justice.  Some of  the jobs require additional study and even a law degree but there are entry level positions for which graduates with a degree in African American studies can qualify.  Relocation may be an issue as many positions exist in Washington or in district offices around the nation.