Digital Humanities (DH) has long been subject to ongoing debate regarding its scope, identity, and professional boundaries (Terras et al. 2013). This poster addresses this question empirically by examining DH through the lens of the labour market, using graduate career outcomes as evidence for how the field is practically defined and understood.(Terras et al. 2013). This poster addresses this question empirically by examining DH through the lens of the labour market, using graduate career outcomes as evidence for how the field is practically defined and understood.

We present findings from a survey of 130 DH graduates from 2004 to 2025 across 18 UK-Ireland universities (including University College London, King’s College London, University of Cambridge, University of York, Durham University, University of London School of Advanced Study, University of Galway, Lancaster University, University College Cork, University of Sheffield, University of Glasgow, University of Exeter, University of Leeds, Trinity College Dublin, Technological University Dublin, Maynooth University, University of Edinburgh, the Open University).

Our results show, firstly, that DH employment outcomes (DHeo) are not confined to Academia/Research (32%), with respondents also working in Technology/Software (26%), GLAM/Heritage (18%), Public sector/NGO (10%), and Publishing/Media (8%), among others (Figure 1). Because the industry field was multi-selected, these percentages reflect overall presence rather than exclusive distribution. However, the pattern is clear that DHeo spans research, IT industry, cultural heritage, media and public sector, which challenges the previous discussion that 75% DH jobs are obtained within academia (Wang et al. 2021).(Wang et al. 2021).

Figure 1: Employment sectors selected by respondents. Note: sector was multi-select, so percentages are not mutually exclusive and should not be summed to 100%

Secondly, job roles cluster into both discovery and delivery functions. While academic roles such as Research/RA/Postdoc (17.6%) and Teaching/Lecturer (8.1%) remain significant, technical and operational roles including Project/Product Manager, Data Analyst/Scientist, Developer/Engineer, and UX/Designer collectively account for 33.8%. GLAM and public sector roles further demonstrate the hybrid nature of DHeo (28%), which blends collections informatics, usability, accessibility, and research collaboration. This hybridity reflects what the “creative tensions” between data, humanities, teaching, research, and service, that are “deliberately needful” rather than problematic, which help to explain why DH graduates are particularly legible and attractive to employers across sectors (Booth 2024). These findings also align with existing understandings of DH interdisciplinarity (Booth 2024). These findings also align with existing understandings of DH interdisciplinarity (Winters and Sichani 2023).(Winters and Sichani 2023).

Thirdly, employability for DH graduates is strong, with 57% securing work within three months of graduating, 16% within three to six months, and only 4% taking more than a year (Figure 2). While this does not resolve questions of long-term career progression, it challenges persistent stereotypes that humanities-based graduates struggle with employability (Edmondson et al. 2020). Moreover, these findings connect to broader arguments about the value of humanities education, that humanities and arts-based degrees cultivate transferable skills and capacities valued across sectors, including critical thinking, ethical awareness, communication, and adaptability, rather than exclusively academic specialisation (Edmondson et al. 2020). Moreover, these findings connect to broader arguments about the value of humanities education, that humanities and arts-based degrees cultivate transferable skills and capacities valued across sectors, including critical thinking, ethical awareness, communication, and adaptability, rather than exclusively academic specialisation (Belfiore 2013).(Belfiore 2013).

Figure 2: Results of Question 12 How long did it take you to find your first job after graduating?

Surveyed skill preferences further show the character of DH as a field that integrates practical, technical, and critical capacities. Graduates highlight Data analysis and Data visualisation (75 responses), Text analysis/NLP (70), Programming (65), Databases/SQL (57), Project management (47), alongside critical competencies such as Critical thinking/theory (126) and Data ethics (42). This confirms that DH education cultivates both operational expertise and critical engagement, which supports previous scholarship that frames DH as a site of critical technical practice rather than a simple opposition between tools and theory (Nowviskie 2016).(Nowviskie 2016).

In relation to ongoing debates within global DH communities and the continuing expansion of DH programmes, these findings have direct implications for pedagogy and workforce development. Programmes should retain core practical skills while strengthening training in critical review, governance, and ethical depth. Our survey suggests that DH should be understood not merely as a collection of technical competencies, but as a field that links infrastructure-building with interpretation, reflexivity, and responsibility. Rather than being marginal or ambiguously defined, DH emerges here as a clearly employable, structurally hybrid, and intellectually grounded domain that continues to evolve, demonstrated by its graduates’ professional trajectories.