Humanities Dissertation Volume Drops Sharply Since 2015
A new AASL report reveals a 49 percent decline in humanities doctoral works, contrasting with growth in total degrees.
Updated on Oct. 21, 2026 in Social Sciences
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A new report from the American Academy of Sciences and Letters (AASL) finds that total dissertation volume in the humanities and social sciences has fallen 28 percent since 2015. While total doctoral degrees across all fields rose by 8 percent in 2025, the humanities saw a 49 percent decline in dissertation production over the last decade.
Why it matters
Dissertations serve as a primary indicator for the conceptual assumptions and linguistic shifts within academic fields. The decline suggests a significant contraction in these disciplines even as doctoral attainment in other sectors grows.
The AASL analyzed 445,000 dissertations from 700 colleges, finding that 150,000 of those works were completed at just 20 institutions. While humanities volume plummeted 49 percent, total U.S. doctoral output across all fields increased by 8 percent in 2025.
The players
American Academy of Sciences and Letters
An academic nonprofit society established in 2023 that conducts research on scholarly trends.
The details
The AASL utilized the ProQuest TDM Studio archive to perform text analysis, categorizing vocabulary into themes such as power, identity, and aesthetics. This methodology tracks shifting academic interests, noting that vocabulary related to identity has risen steadily since 1980, while terms associated with power experienced a marked surge starting in 1988.
Timeline
1960: Beginning of the dissertation data analysis period.
1980: Identity-related vocabulary began rising steadily.
1988: Power-related vocabulary surged in dissertations.
2015: Peak volume year for humanities and social sciences dissertations.
2025: Conclusion of the AASL report data collection period.
The Tech Race
This analysis updates the trajectory established by the Survey of Earned Doctorates by exposing deep internal contractions in humanities research. It highlights a widening gap between the growth of doctoral degrees in technical or professional fields and the shrinking output in humanities disciplines.
The study offers insight for researchers and academic administrators evaluating the health of university departments. It primarily serves as a macro-level indicator of where intellectual focus is shifting across the U.S. higher education landscape.
The takeaway
The sharp divergence between rising total doctorate counts and plummeting humanities dissertation output suggests a fundamental shift in academic investment. Observers should track subsequent institutional enrollment data to determine if this decline represents a permanent move away from these specific research domains.
Further reading
For broader trends in academic output and cultural shifts, visit our Social Sciences section.
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Do you believe traditional humanities studies remain as vital to university education as they once were?
