What Your Humanities PhD Is Worth Outside Academia with Larry McGrath
What can you actually do with a humanities or social science PhD outside of academia?
In this episode of Academics and Their Money, Neeka Miremadi and Inga Timmerman talk with Larry McGrath, a former academic who went from a PhD in the history and anthropology of science to working in tech, and now serves as a senior user researcher at Amazon working on Alexa Plus.
Larry offers an incredibly detailed look at what happens when you take a humanities or social science PhD into industry. He shares why he initially pursued academia, what ultimately made him realize that an academic career would not provide the economic security and quality of life he wanted, and how changing his perspective on work and money gave him more freedom.
The conversation goes far beyond the usual advice to “consider leaving academia.” Larry breaks down six specific career paths for humanities and social science PhDs, along with the approximate compensation he has seen in each field. He also explains why academics often struggle to make the transition, and why the key is learning to translate the value of their research, teaching, writing, and analytical skills into language that recruiters and hiring managers understand.
Larry also discusses the financial lessons he wishes he had understood before pursuing his PhD, including the importance of investing early, multiple streams of income, opportunity cost, and looking beyond salary when evaluating a job.
Most importantly, this episode challenges the idea that choosing money, career flexibility, or a more comfortable life means that academics have somehow “given up.” Larry makes the case that humanities scholars already possess valuable skills, they just need to learn how to communicate their value in a different context.
If you are a humanities or social science PhD wondering what you can actually do outside of academia, this episode is essentially a career playbook for making that transition.
Larry’s Website: