More Jobs Available in English Field, Report Says

The Modern Language Association (MLA) reported yesterday a 28 percent increase in the number of job openings in the English field, but Harvard professors and Ph.D. candidates said they remain skeptical about future growth in their academic market.

The association's October 1998 "Job Information List" issue listed 885 positions available, up from 694 in October 1997.

This is a marked increase from the number of advertised positions in the mid 1970s and early 1980s when the job listings numbered in the 300s and 400s.

The 1998 figure is still far below the number of job openings in 1988, when the MLA advertised 1,053 jobs.

Professor of English John D. Guillory said that job seekers should not grow too excited over the current figures.

"I'm encouraged for people this year [looking for jobs], but the most important thing is the long-term trends of the job market," Guillory said. "I'm not convinced the job crisis is over."

The MLA also reported that most of the jobs available are full-time positions, with 78 percent of them being tenure-track openings.

In April 1998, the MLA reported that only 33.7 percent of English doctorates had earned tenure-track positions in 1997, down from 45.9 percent in the 1993-1994 academic year.

Phyllis Franklin, executive director of the MLA, told the Chronicle of Higher Education that the number of Ph.D. candidates granted degrees in the academic year 1996-97 was about 1,100.

But Neal Dolan, a ninth-year graduate student in English and a lecturer in the History and Literature program, said the increase in jobs would not help very much.

"The problem is [the percentage increase] doesn't change prospects [for jobs] very much because there are still many more Ph.D. candidates than jobs," Dolan said.

Dolan said he applied for a job at Williams College last year and was told that there were 800 applicants for the job.

"My guess is that [800 applicants] is not an unusual figure," he said. "Those are the jobs you hope to get coming out of Harvard."

But while students like Dolan--who will be finishing his graduate studies this year--are thinking about the job market, others like Eric Eisner, a graduate student who expects to study here until 2001, are not as affected by the news.

"It's good to know there are more jobs out there. I have a lot of friends on the market now and it's good for them," Eisner said. "[But] at this point in my career I'm not thinking about the job market."

The MLA, a professional group, is a not-for-profit membership organization that promotes the study and teaching of language and literature.