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| Completed dissertation per year (one of many tables) |
Active History has launched a series reflecting on the Canadian Historical Association's recent report on history dissertations in Canada. The first of the series, by Will Langford of Dalhousie University, compiles a discription of doctoral work in Canadian history departments from copious statistics
Over the last six academic years, the just-so dissertation was a 20th-century social history of Canada completed at the University of Toronto prior to the pandemic. It was probably written by a man in their 30s. And the title might have been along the lines of “A History of the Making of a Modern Canadian Public during World War.” Of course, this archetypal PhD graduate does not exist.
Langford is one of the authors of the complete report, which is available (French or English) at the CHA website. Active History promises more installments from other members of the team that produced the study, and welcomes comments and contributions from readers.
Update, November 2: In another data-heavy analysis at Active History, Will Langford suggests that about one new history PhD in ten gets a tenure stream academic position, though as he says, "Many – if not almost all – fledging historians pursue a PhD degree with the intention of becoming a university professor."
Would anyone consider that Canadian universities should consider reducing the number of Ph.D candidates they admit by about, say, fifty per cent? Don't think so.
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