History as a Career
Historians: essential
professionals
Historians practise in a range of professional fields. Appreciation of the relevance of history to human society has always remained strong, reflecting the need to record and interpret the past, provide a context for understanding the present and even guide future planning. Professional historians work in the traditional field of education, in government bodies and museums, in areas of legal research, on heritage and planning studies, and on corporate and local histories. They are also called on to advise allied professionals who range from archaeologists to town planners and valuers.
So you want to be an historian?
The practice of history is a professional skill. It means having training and experience in critically assessing the evidence and events of the past and placing them in context. Good research and communication skills are essential.
Professional historians are quite different from history enthusiasts who, usually as a hobby, can be found researching subjects such as local history, family history and transport history. Such enthusiasts are often very good at collecting and sorting information but do not have the professional skills and background knowledge to interpret that information and place it in historical context. The difference is similar to that between a qualified medical practitioner and someone having a knowledge of first aid. To become a professional historian you need qualifications.
Training
The basic qualification for a professional historian is an honours degree or equivalent in the discipline of history from an appropriate tertiary institution. The qualification must be recognised by the Australian Council of Professional Historians Associations (ACPHA) under the National Standard for the Accreditation of Professional Historians in Australia. The study of history at school is beneficial but is not a prerequisite for tertiary study in history.
At tertiary level undergraduate students can study various fields of history (such as Australian, Asian or European history). After completion of the first tertiary qualification, it is possible to acquire further professional and practice skills through study. That study is usually oriented toward either research or work practices. When the emphasis is on research, a specific topic is usually researched and written up as an honours dissertation. Post-graduate research (a Masters or Doctorate degree) can then extend the historian's skills in research, analysis and writing through the preparation of a thesis on a selected topic. When the emphasis is on work practices, a post-graduate qualification in public or applied history will refine the historian's skills for use in specific professional fields such as museums, heritage, radio, film and television and interactive multimedia design. For teaching in secondary schools an educational qualification (such as a Diploma in Education) is required.
Finding employment
As with the rest of the workforce, historians work either as employees in an organisation, as contractors or as consultants. The first is a more secure existence, but opportunities for permanent employment have tightened in recent years. Tertiary teaching is still a significant, but diminishing field of employment for historians but opportunities also arise in government bodies, museums, archives, in heritage practice and elsewhere. Such positions are advertised in the press. State and territory Professional Historians Associations also publicise employment opportunities for their members.
Consulting work requires good business skills in order to be economically viable, but it is a growing field as organisations increasingly replace staff with consultants. Successful consultants must undertake business and financial planning, balance their work commitments and prepare tenders for contracts (which, again, are advertised in the press and publicised by state and territory PHAs). The state and territory PHAs provide their members with guidance and support, which includes publishing registers of their members, providing employment services and giving advice on fees and contracts.
Joining your state or territory PHA after graduation from your history course will give you access to advice and professional information and, most importantly, professional accreditation for your qualifications. For further information look at the ACPHA Web site, and through this, the Web pages for your state or territory PHA.
Contacts
ACPHA is in the process of identifying and listing the tertiary courses in history that meet its National Standard. Until this list is published, you can contact the individual universities offering degrees in history.
You can also contact tertiary admissions centres in most states: