More job searches by language and literature scholars are coming up empty, because of the budget tightening and hiring freezes adopted at colleges in response to the battered economy. A new analysis of employment advertising conducted by the Modern Language Association, to be released today, projects a 21-percent drop in faculty positions advertised in the association’s electronic job list this academic year, compared to a year earlier.
The decline is the steepest one-year drop in the 34-year history of the list. “For the individuals looking for a job this is really a tough situation,” said Rosemary G. Feal, executive director of the association.
Those looking to land a job as a faculty member in English language or literature will have 22.2-percent fewer openings to look at during the 2008-9 academic year, compared with last year, the MLA projects. The expected number—1,420 jobs this year versus 1,826 jobs last year—is still above a historic low of about 1,000 job offerings back in 1993-94.
The association projects that the number of foreign-language faculty positions will drop nearly 20 percent, to 1,350. That is compared to last year’s total of 1,680.
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