Career Planning

Career Fields with Projected Growth

How is the job market changing?

With the development of artificial intelligence across industries, the face of the workforce is changing. While old jobs are being replaced, new jobs are developing.  Predicting and adjusting to these new demands is central to our mission at the Middle East Studies Center as part of what we do to prepare students for their futures. Middle East Studies is a field that spans the liberal arts and develops the problem-solving abilities universities are best known for.  You'll see from the data we have analyzed below that even though majors in humanities have been decreasing (AAA&S, 2021) at liberal arts institutions a robust curricular and co-curricular path to your degree is in reality one of the best ways to prepare you for an exciting and long-term career path. 

What skills will be most valuable?

We expect the long-term survival of the humanities, and humanities-related skills and abilities. In a recent study, researchers found that college graduates with degrees in the humanities found occupations in a wide range of industries (AAA&S, 2018).  Likewise, effective communication skills and creative problem-solving developed by a traditional liberal arts curriculum are demonstrably valuable in the workplace and will remain so for the foreseeable future. According to the latest data from the World Economic Forum we can anticipate an increase in demand for creative and social skills in the job market. Those are two specific kinds of intelligence that are difficult to replace with codified programs or artificial intelligence (WEF, 2020). 

How does our center address this?

Middle East Studies encompasses liberal arts while also incorporating intercultural awareness and foreign language skills. Students learning Arabic and other languages at Ohio State, or who are pursuing studies of the cultural milieus of those languages, will be able to highlight a rare and in-demand portfolio of competencies on their resumes. Industries that emphasize intercultural and social skills in particular, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, included translation, communications, and roles such as community service managers, and public relations professionals. Though these skills are valuable across all industries, we selected a few which demonstrated the highest projected growth.

Notably, the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector is growing the most, indicating a shift towards the performance arts.  In terms of occupation, translators and interpreters are highly demanded because of the increase in global travel and communication.  This comes as no surprise as the Bureau predicts leisure and hospitality to be the most rapidly growing sectors, followed by healthcare (BLS, 2022).  

Career Opportunities

In a 2021 study, 90% of employers reported that they were either "much more likely" or "somewhat more likely" to consider employee applications with internship experience (AACU, 2021). 

The College of Arts and Sciences provides ample opportunities to get students started on their career journeys, including coaching, resume reviews, workshops, and a podcast.  The University also offers a fund to support students participating in unpaid or lowly-paid internships. 

The Middle East Studies Center offers internships and other opportunities to gain experience. We suggest exploring some of the following opportunities for international involvement.  Please see the career pages of the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Slavic and East European Studies, and the East Asian Studies Center for more information and search tools.

Below is a sampling of opportunities for every stage of your academic journey as well as resources for further research.  First, you will find a list of major academic fellowships, as well as some resources to discover even more.  Next, we have collected a non-exhaustive list of internships and jobs that value language and area skills.  Though these specific positions may not be available, you may take note of the types of jobs out there.  Finally, we have recommended a list of job/internship search websites that will prove useful.