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Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages

Instructional content for this group of programs is defined in codes 16.1400 - 16.1499.

Types of Degrees Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Bachelor’s Degree	24
Master’s Degree	12

What Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

This major prepares you for careers needing Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• English Language — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 5.2 / 7.
• Foreign Language — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 5.5 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Administrative — Importance 3.1 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.
• Sociology and Anthropology — Importance 2.9 / 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 developed in a Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

Abilities

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

• Speech Clarity — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.1 / 7
Training and Teaching Others	4.1 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Thinking Creatively	4.0 / 7
Getting Information	4.0 / 7
Working with Computers	3.9 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	3.8 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	3.8 / 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 Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Moodle	Computer based training software	—
Blackboard software	Data base user interface and query software	—
Computer assisted language learning CALL software	Foreign language software	—
Collaborative editing software	Word processing software	—
Audacity	Music or sound editing software	—

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

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages graduates include:

• French Teacher
• Teacher
• Language Instructor
• Hebrew Teacher
• Bilingual Teacher
• Language Teacher
• Spanish Teacher
• Language Arts Teacher
• ESL Instructor (English as a Second Language Instructor)
• Arabic Teacher
• Professor
• Arabic Language Instructor
• French Instructor
• Foreign Language Instructor
• Spanish Instructor

What Can You Do With a Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages Degree?

Graduates with a degree in Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	1.8%	$77,927	$66,306–$89,549

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

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

Education Level	Share of Workers
Doctoral degree	40.3%
Bachelor’s degree	31.6%
Master’s degree	20.0%
High school diploma or equivalent	2.8%
Post-master’s certificate	2.1%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	1.9%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	0.7%
Postsecondary certificate	0.5%

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

Who Is Earning a Degree in Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages?

Gender Distribution

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

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	18	50.0%
Men	18	50.0%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	1	2.8%
Asian	14	38.9%
Hispanic or Latino	2	5.6%
Two or More Races	15	41.7%
International Students	4	11.1%

^{See minority definition below.}

Related Programs

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

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Foreign Languages Linguistics	28,685
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	12,321
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services	7,564
American Sign Language	2,311
East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	2,111
Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	1,385
Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	1,084
Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other	545
Middle/Near Eastern and Semitic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	541
Slavic, Baltic and Albanian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	448
Second Language Learning	230
American Indian/Native American Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	58

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.