Document Type
Doctor of Education Capstone
Original Publication Date
2026
Client
Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of History
Location
Richmond, Virginia
Date of Submission
May 2026
Abstract
Declining undergraduate enrollments in history departments reflect a national trend that many institutions have struggled to reverse. This capstone project, conducted in partnership with the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of History (VCUDOH), examines a specific and addressable dimension of that challenge: a communication gap in how the career value of a history degree is conveyed to students in introductory-level courses. Using improvement science principles and a mixed-methods case study design, the capstone team investigated how introductory history instructors communicate durable skills and career applicability, how students perceive the relevance of introductory history coursework to their career plans, and why students who declared history as a major chose to switch to another field within the past two years. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 11 faculty members, a review of 24 introductory course syllabi, a survey of students enrolled in introductory history courses that yielded 80 completed responses and a survey of students previously enrolled as History majors that yielded zero responses. Guided by the durable skills framework and social cognitive career theory, findings reveal that durable skills are consistently embedded in introductory history coursework and recognized by students, but the connection between those skills and concrete career pathways is not being made explicitly or consistently. Four themes emerged across the data: Major Complexity, the Attention Economy, Responsibility and Agency Framing, and Championing the Relevance of History Today. Five recommendations are presented to address the communication gap, including explicitly naming durable skills in course materials, reframing the departmental narrative, building faculty advocacy capacity, expanding recruitment strategies, and enhancing introductory course design. The findings affirm that history is, in fact, durable and that closing the gap between what the discipline offers and what students understand it to offer is both urgent and achievable.
Rights
© The Authors