Anthropologists
Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics > Science and MathematicsProjected Growth: Faster than average
Projected Job Openings
Extensive Preparation Needed
Job Description
Your job is to Research, evaluate, and establish public policy concerning the origins of humans; their physical, social, linguistic, and cultural development; and their behavior, as well as the cultures, organizations, and institutions they have created.
Common job titles of Anthropologists include:
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Experience and Education
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
50% said they needed a Master's Degree.
32.14% said they needed a Doctoral Degree.
Tasks
Explain the origins and physical, social, or cultural development of humans, including physical attributes, cultural traditions, beliefs, languages, resource management practices, and settlement patterns.
Teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology.
Gather and analyze artifacts and skeletal remains to increase knowledge of ancient cultures.
Apply systematic sampling techniques to ensure the accuracy, completeness, precision, and representativeness of individuals selected for sample surveys.
Create data records for use in describing and analyzing social patterns and processes, using photography, videography, and audio recordings.
Train others in the application of ethnographic research methods to solve problems in organizational effectiveness, communications, technology development, policy making, and program planning.
Develop intervention procedures, using techniques such as individual and focus group interviews, consultations, and participant observation of social interaction.
Collect information and make judgments through observation, interviews, and review of documents.
Observe and measure bodily variations and physical attributes of different human groups.
Build geographic information systems (GIS) to record, analyze, and cartographically represent the distribution of languages, cultural and natural resources, land use, and settlement patterns of specific populations.
Observe the production, distribution, and consumption of food to identify and mitigate threats to food security.
Participate in forensic activities, such as tooth and bone structure identification, in conjunction with police departments and pathologists.
Examine museum collections of hominid fossils to classify anatomical and physiological variations and to determine how they fit into evolutionary theory.
Organize public exhibits and displays to promote public awareness of diverse and distinctive cultural traditions.
Identify key individual cultural collaborators, using reputational and positional selection techniques.
Study archival collections of primary historical sources to help explain the origins and development of cultural patterns.
Collaborate with economic development planners to decide on the implementation of proposed development policies, plans, and programs based on culturally institutionalized barriers and facilitating circumstances.
Formulate general rules that describe and predict the development and behavior of cultures and social institutions.
Conduct participatory action research in communities and organizations to assess how work is done and to design work systems, technologies, and environments.
Construct and test data collection methods.
Identify culturally specific beliefs and practices affecting health status and access to services for distinct populations and communities, in collaboration with medical and public health officials.
Build and use text-based database management systems to support the analysis of detailed first-hand observational records, or field notes.
Advise government agencies, private organizations, and communities regarding proposed programs, plans, and policies and their potential impacts on cultural institutions, organizations, and communities.
Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.
Plan and direct research to characterize and compare the economic, demographic, health care, social, political, linguistic, and religious institutions of distinct cultural groups, communities, and organizations.
Analyze and characterize user experiences and institutional settings to assist consumer product developers, technology developers, and software engineers with the design of innovative products and services.
Apply traditional ecological knowledge and assessments of culturally distinctive land and resource management institutions to assist in the resolution of conflicts over habitat protection and resource enhancement.
Enhance the cultural sensitivity of elementary and secondary curricula and classroom interactions in collaboration with educators and teachers.
Tools
X ray cabinets
Ultraviolet UV transilluminators
Ultraviolet UV crosslinkers
Ultracentrifuges
Transcription equipment
Total stations
Thin section saws
All ToolsThermomixers
Thermal cyclers
Theodolites
Tablet computers
Steam autoclaves
Spreading calipers
Spectrophotometers
Sliding calipers
Slide scanners
Shovels
Selective ion meters
Remote sensing equipment
Protective gloves
Precision saws
Portable x ray machines
Portable gamma spectrometers
Polymerase chain reaction PCR thermocyclers
Polymerase chain reaction PCR hoods
Plotters
pH indicators
Petrographic microscopes
Personal computers
Oil immersion microscopes
Microcentrifuges
Metallurgical microscopes
Marshalltown trowels
Mandibulometers
Luminescence readers
Liquid handling robots
Laser scanners
Laptop computers
Laboratory water purification systems
Laboratory vacuum ovens
Laboratory vacuum dryers
Laboratory refrigerators
Laboratory glove boxes
Laboratory fume hoods
Laboratory dropping pipettes
Laboratory binocular microscopes
Laboratory balances
Industrial micro computed tomography CT scanners
Immersion thermostats
Hot stir plates
High resolution industrial computed tomography CT scanners
High pressure liquid chromatograph HPLC equipment
Ground penetrating radar GPR
Graded sieves
Global positioning system GPS receivers
Gel electrophoresis boxes
Four wheel drive 4WD vehicles
Fluorometers
Flatbed scanners
Film processors
External lavalier microphones
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ELISA plate readers
Electronic topload scales
Electron microscopes
Dust masks
Digitizers
Digital video cameras
Digital cameras
Digital audio recorders
Desktop computers
Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequencers
Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA analyzers
Countertop centrifuges
Bucket augers
Technologies
Adobe Systems Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign
IBM SPSS Statistics
Adobe Systems Adobe Dreamweaver
Age progression software
Apple Final Cut Express
Apple iMovie
All TechnologiesApplied Biosystems GeneMapper
Data visualization software
GE Healthcare ImageQuant TL
Gene Codes Sequencher
Genealogy software
Golden Software Surfer
Image enhancement software
Insightful S-PLUS
Leica Geosystems ERDAS IMAGINE
Microsoft Front Page
Microsoft Windows Movie Maker
Qaulis Research The Ethonograph
SIL International The Linguist’s Shoebox
Software development tools
Sony Creative Software Vegas Movie Studio
STATISTICA
Systat
The University of Tennessee FORDISC
Voice activated software
Wolfram Research Mathematica
Skills
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Science
Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Abilities
Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Comprehension
Communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Expression
Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Expression
Combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Inductive Reasoning
Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Comprehension
Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Deductive Reasoning
Speak clearly so others can understand you.
Auditory and Speech Abilities › Sensory Abilities › Speech Clarity
Identify and understand the speech of another person.
Auditory and Speech Abilities › Sensory Abilities › Speech Recognition
Generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Category Flexibility
Come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Fluency of Ideas