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South Asian Languages & Literature

Types of Degrees South Asian Languages & Literature Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing South Asian Languages & Literature may pursue degrees at several award levels.

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

What South Asian Languages & Literature Majors Need to Know

Studies in South Asian Languages & Literature build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that South Asian Languages & Literature graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in South Asian Languages & Literature 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

Skills developed in a South Asian Languages & Literature 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

Innate abilities most relevant to South Asian Languages & Literature 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, South Asian Languages & Literature 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 South Asian Languages & Literature professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Moodle	Computer based training software	—
Skype	Desktop communications software	—
Zoom	Video conferencing software	—
American Sign Language ASL browser	Dictionary software	—
DOC Cop	Information retrieval or search 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 South Asian Languages & Literature graduates include:

• French Teacher
• Lecturer
• Spanish Language Lecturer
• Greek Professor
• Language Arts Teacher
• German Teacher
• Arabic Instructor
• College Professor
• Italian Teacher
• Hebrew Professor
• Professor
• Japanese Professor
• Foreign Languages Professor
• Biblical Languages Professor
• Swahili Teacher

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to South Asian Languages & Literature 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 South Asian Languages & Literature?

Gender Distribution

This field has a relatively balanced gender distribution: 50% women and 50% men among South Asian Languages & Literature graduates.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	3	50.0%
Men	3	50.0%

Related Programs

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

Program	CIP Code
South Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.07
Bengali Language and Literature	16.0704
Hindi Language and Literature	16.0701
Punjabi Language and Literature	16.0705
Sanskrit and Classical Indian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.0702
South Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other	16.0799
Tamil Language and Literature	16.0706
Urdu Language and Literature	16.0707
African Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.0201
Albanian Language and Literature	16.0404
American Indian/Native American Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.1001
American Sign Language (ASL)	16.1601

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.