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African Languages

Types of Degrees African Languages Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing African Languages can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Bachelor’s Degree	2
Master’s Degree	1
Doctor’s Degree	4

What African Languages Majors Need to Know

Studies in African Languages emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that African Languages graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in African Languages emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Foreign Language — Importance 4.7 / 5; level 5.9 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 5.2 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Administrative — Importance 3.1 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.
• Sociology and Anthropology — Importance 2.8 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set emphasized by a African Languages program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to African Languages careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Speech Clarity — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, African Languages graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.2 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Training and Teaching Others	4.1 / 7
Thinking Creatively	4.0 / 7
Getting Information	3.9 / 7
Working with Computers	3.9 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	3.8 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	3.7 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	3.7 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	3.7 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by African Languages professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Blackboard software	Data base user interface and query software	—
Desire2Learn LMS software	Computer based training software	—
Course management system software	Computer based training software	—
Google Docs	Word processing software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Calendar and scheduling software	Calendar and scheduling software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for African Languages graduates include:

• Spanish Literature Professor
• French Teacher
• German Professor
• Spanish Teacher
• Associate Professor
• Language Instructor
• Greek Professor
• Instructor
• Bilingual Teacher
• Russian Language Professor
• Spanish Professor
• Spanish Instructor
• Program Instructor
• Adjunct Instructor
• Spanish Lecturer

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to African Languages graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Doctoral degree	44.6%
Bachelor’s degree	26.8%
Master’s degree	21.8%
High school diploma or equivalent	3.1%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	1.7%
Post-master’s certificate	1.4%
Postsecondary certificate	0.5%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in African Languages?

Gender Distribution

This field has a relatively balanced gender distribution: 42.9% women and 57.1% men among African Languages graduates.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	3	42.9%
Men	4	57.1%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of African Languages graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	2	28.6%
International Students	5	71.4%

^{See minority definition below.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Foreign Languages Linguistics	16
American Indian/Native American Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.10
American Sign Language	16.16
Armenian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.18
Celtic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.13
Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.12
East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.03
Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other	16.99
FOREIGN LANGUAGES, LITERATURES, AND LINGUISTICS	16.00
Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.05
Iranian/Persian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.08
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services	16.01

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.