program of anthropolgy
careers & alumni
One Degree. Infinite Potential.
Where Curiosity Meets Opportunity
Anthropology graduates work across industries, using their understanding of people, cultures, and communities to build meaningful careers in countless fields.
Careers in Anthropology
What Can You Do With an Anthropology Degree?
Anthropology is one of the most versatile degrees you can earn. By studying people, cultures and human behavior, students gain skills that translate into careers across nearly every sector. Anthropology graduates work in business, healthcare, public service, research, education, nonprofits and beyond. Hands-on experiences in fieldwork, laboratories, community engagement and research help students prepare for meaningful careers that make an impact locally and globally.
Areas Where Anthropologists Work
Corporate and Private Sector
Anthropologists help organizations better understand people through UX research, consumer insights, organizational consulting and market analysis.
Common career pathways include:
- User Experience (UX) Researcher at technology and product companies
- Market Research Analyst studying consumer behavior and trends
- Management Consultant advising organizations on structure and strategy
- Corporate Ethnographer or Consumer Insights Researcher
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Specialist
- Organizational Development Consultant
- Design Researcher or Product Research Strategist
Career pathways and outcomes vary by role, industry, experience, location and additional education.
Healthcare & Public Health
Graduates contribute to community health initiatives, patient advocacy, public health programs and healthcare systems.
Common career pathways include:
- Community Health Worker
- Health Education Specialist
- Medical and Health Services Manager
- Public Health Program Coordinator
- Patient Advocate or Cultural Liaison
- Healthcare Social Worker
- Global Health Research Associate
Some roles may require additional certification, licensure or graduate study depending on the position and employer.
Government & Policy
Anthropologists work in policy, intelligence, urban planning, foreign affairs and public administration at local, national and international levels.
Common career pathways include:
- Policy Analyst or Policy Advisor
- Intelligence Analyst
- Urban and Regional Planner
- Foreign Affairs Specialist or Foreign Service Officer
- Program Analyst (USAID, NIH, CDC and others)
- Cultural Affairs Officer
- Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Specialist
Nonprofits, Global Development and International Organizations
Many graduates support humanitarian efforts, community development programs and nonprofit organizations around the world.
Common career pathways include:
- International Development Specialist or Program Officer
- Social and Community Service Manager
- Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist
- Community Development Coordinator
- Humanitarian Aid Worker or Disaster Response Specialist
- Nonprofit Program Director
- Community Health Educator
Archaeology, Museums & Forensics
Career paths include cultural resource management, forensic anthropology, museum education, preservation and heritage research.
Common career pathways include:
- Forensic Anthropologist
- Archaeological Field Technician or Principal Investigator
- Cultural Resource Management (CRM) Specialist
- Museum Curator or Museum Educator
- Historic Preservation Specialist
- Museum Technician or Conservator
- Archivist
Some roles require graduate-level training. CRM positions are often available at the undergraduate level as an entry point into the field.
Research & Higher Education
Some students continue into graduate study and pursue careers in research institutes, universities and policy organizations.
Common career pathways include:
- Anthropology Professor or Lecturer
- Research Scientist or Research Associate
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- Survey Researcher
- Think Tank or Policy Research Analyst
- Academic Program Administrator
- Curatorial or Collections Researcher
Graduate study (MA or PhD) is typically required for faculty and senior research positions. Entry-level research roles are available at the bachelor's level.
Career outcomes vary based on role, industry, experience, location and additional education. Career pathways listed reflect common directions pursued by graduates and are informed by national labor and education data, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.
by the numbers
Anthropology Labor Statistics
About 800 openings for anthropologists and archeologists are projected each year.
The median annual wage for anthropologists and archeologists was $64,910 in May 2024.
Employment of anthropologists and archeologists is projected to grow 4 percent from 2024 to 2034, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
*U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
where are our alumni now?
Alumni Career Stories
Our alumni continue to make an impact in a wide variety of careers and industries. Some pursue advanced graduate study, while many become practitioners using anthropology in real-world settings. Below are
examples of the careers our graduates have gone on to build.
Corporate and Private Sector
Sarah Funkhouser has worked for the YMCA of Steuben County for the past 12 years and since 2019 as its CEO.
Since receiving her MA and PhD in Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin, Kelsie has worked in user experience research and consulting, most recently for the enterprise resource planning and business management software company, ECI Software Solutions, where she is a manager of UX Research.
Carly has worked at Lincoln Financial Group since 2010. Since 2020, she is an Account Manager for LFG’s Small Market Alliance.
Healthcare and Public Health
After graduating from PFW, Sophia served in the Peace Corps in Indonesia. She then received her MA in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago and is now a clinical therapist in Chicago.
Shawna Follis, PhD, MS, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University Indianapolis. She received her PhD in Epidemiology from The University of Arizona and her MS in Anthropology from Purdue University. She completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University Medical School (2021-2023) where she received Stanford Medicine Teaching Award in 2022.
Dr. Follis researches cardiometabolic disease prevention. Her primary research area investigates how the environment and social determinants of health increase risk of cardiometabolic disease. Her research also investigates the role of body composition in chronic disease. She was awarded the 2020 Aetna Award for Excellence in Research on Older Women and Public Health from the American Public Health Association.
Indiana University Indianapolis Profile
Government and Public Service
Since 2023, Lauren has worked as a Policy Analyst at the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute.
Lauren received her MPH and PhD at Purdue University West Lafayette. Her commitment to research, advocacy, education, and community engagement has been recognized through various grants, awards, and honors, including her PhD work being honored with the ASEC Dissertation Award, being selected as the Lavender Graduation Speaker and receiving the Boiler Changemaker Award. She describes herself as being “driven by a passion for creating positive change in the world.”
Lauren has over a decade of experience in community organizing, advocacy, health communications, and research. During this time, she has collaborated with various organizations, including the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute, Pride Lafayette, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Indiana March of Dimes, and the Purdue LGBTQ Center.
Lauren completed her BA in Anthropology and Sociology before pursuing her Master of Urban and Rural Planning at Ball State University. She is now a Neighborhood Planner for the City of Fort Wayne.
Global Development, Nonprofits
and International Organizations
Liliana is the National Engagement and Campaigns Director for Peace Action, the nation’s largest grassroots peace network, working for over 60 years to shape U.S. foreign policy towards diplomacy, human rights, nuclear disarmament, and an end to military conflicts. After her BA in Anthropology and Political Science, Liliana completed her MSc in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) where she specialized in the Middle East and broader Islamic world.
Archaeology, Cultural Resource
Management, Museums
After receiving her BA in Anthropology and History, completed her MA in Museum Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis. She is currently the Collections Manager / Curator at the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave in Denver Colorado. Rebecca has worked with many museum, library, and archival collections including holding previous positions at Indiana University Libraries and the Indiana Historical Society. We are lucky to have her teach an introductory course in museum studies at PFW.
Sarah Surface-Evans has nearly three decades of experience in government, private sector, and academic archaeology, specializing in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. Before serving as the Senior Archaeologist at the Michigan SHPO, she was a professor of anthropology at Central Michigan University (CMU) between 2011 and 2021. At CMU she developed a number of community-based research projects with Michigan Tribes, local governments, and community organizations. Her collaborative research at the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School with the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan was recognized for a Michigan Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation in 2016.
Her research interests span a wide range of topics, from community-based participatory research, cultural landscape studies, geographic information science, and geophysical prospection. Her publications explore a wide range of methodological and theoretical subjects in both historic and pre-contact archaeology. Recent publications include: “Blurring Timescapes, Subverting Erasure: Remembering Ghosts on the Margins of History” (2020) and “Exploring Well-Being at Three Great Lakes Lighthouses” published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology (2022).
After completing her BA at PFW, Sarah received her MA and PhD in Anthropology from Michigan State University.
Academia and Research
Lindsay completed her BA in English, Spanish, Anthropology, and Women’s Studies before her MA in English and then MBA – all at PFW. Lindsay is now the Director of MBA Programs at PFW.
After completing her BA at PFW, Amber went on to complete a MS in Bioarchaeology at the University of Indianapolis and her PhD in Anthropology at UNLV. She worked for several years at Indiana University’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI), and since 2023 is a Senior Research Specialist at the University of Illinois Chicago Center for Clinical and Translational Science.
Amber is an anthropologist and translational scientist who studies what helps or hinders scientific discoveries from making a real difference in people’s lives. She conducts research with community and campus partners to understand how research moves from the lab into real-world practice.
Kara completed her BA in Anthropology and Biology, and MA in Biology at PFW. Since 2023 she has worked at Roche Pharmaceuticals as a Clinical Research Associate.
Nina Collins is the Scholarly Publishing Librarian at Purdue University West Lafayette. She is a passionate advocate for Open Access, championing partnerships that enable Purdue authors to publish their work openly and affordably. Collins oversees Purdue e-Pubs, the institution's repository, while also delving into ethical publishing practices, open access's scholarly impact, and journal publishing best practices. Her most recent collaboration with the Library Publishing Coalition resulted in the publication of "An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing," cementing her commitment to advancing scholarly communication. Collins holds dual master's degrees in Library Science and Information Science from Indiana University, with a specialization in Digital Libraries.
Where Will Anthropology Take You?
Take The Next Steps
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