Expert: John J. Shea - 12/13/2009

Question
I am middle school student interested in an archaeology career. Do you anticipate there will be a growing need in the archaeology field in the future and what salary expectations are reasonable. About how many hours/wk do you work? What do you like the most or the least about the career. thank you.

Answer
I wouldn't say there is a growing need, so much as a need to replace the aging population. A lot of practicing archaeologists (academics and non-academics
got jobs in the 1970s.  This generatino is nearing retirement age, so there will be some need to replace them.  Water management is likely to be a big
issue in the near future, so there will probably be more hirings of archaeologists to do environmental impact studies of this sort.  I don't think there will be a lot
of openings in academia for archaeologists specifically. Archaeology classes tend to be small, so, given the chance, most anthropology departments
would probably opt to hire cultural anthropologists -who do not require expensive labs.  So, if you want to be an academic archaeologist, you are going to have
to be very, very good.  Learn how to write, particularly how to write grants.
I am an academic archaeologit, and one of the tough things is that there is not structural limit on how much time you can spend on your work. Most academics
work a lot more than 40 hours/week (if you count research and reading time, as a lawyer would do in an analogous situation).  I do not have children, but colleauges
who do say it is difficult to balance career demands with child-rearing, but this is true of any profession.
Current salary expectations are around $50,000-60,000 for a starting salary (depending on location) and upper-range salaries between $100,000-150,000 at the top
institutions.  More can be made by "going over to the dark side" (Administration).
What I like most....doing fieldwork, thinking and writing about interesting problems, being thanked by my students at the end of the semester.
What I like least.....constantly having to ask for grant money.  Discovering that I have been working for 12 hours in a single day.  Students who skip class all
semester then whine about their grades.
Don't get me wrong,  the pluses way outweigh the minuses.  I do not for a second regret choosing archaeology as a profession.
Cheers,
John Seha