History of art : Career areas

A 2011 HESA survey of 2010 graduates indicates that six months after graduation over half of history of art graduates were in paid employment in the UK or overseas. Of these, 7.2% had entered professional roles in areas related to their field of study such as the arts, culture or design, nearly 10.1% were in managerial roles in the public and private sector, and 10.9% had chosen to pursue careers in finance and business. Over a fifth of graduates who were in employment were working as waiting or bar staff or in retail and catering.

A degree in the history of art will equip you well for a career in arts and heritage management, galleries/museums and archives, journalism and the media, publishing and the creative arts.

Where are the jobs?

Arts administration is a popular choice. Many graduates work in museums and galleries. As well as curatorial work, there are opportunities in areas such as outreach, education, marketing, public relations (PR) and events management.

Specialist booksellers, antique dealers and auctioneers are also key employers and another option is to follow an academic career in higher education.

For further details of some of the areas that may be of interest, see:

• creative arts and culture - refers to activities such as art, crafts and design, dancing, music, acting, writing, photography.
• marketing, advertising and PR - concerned with promoting and selling products and services and includes planning, promotion, media relations and market research.
• media and publishing - concerned with the production of a range of materials including books, journals, magazines and newspapers.

For further information on possibilities in other employment areas, see job sectors. 

Statistics are collected every year to show what HE students do immediately after graduation. These can be a useful guide but, in reality, because the data is collected within six months of graduation, many graduates are travelling, waiting to start a course, paying off debts, getting work experience or still deciding what they want to do. For further information about some of the areas of employment commonly entered by graduates of any degree discipline, check out What Do Graduates Do?  and your degree...what next?