Literary scholar
Also called literary analyst, literature scholar, literary scientist
Literary scholars research works of literature, history of literature, genres, and literary criticism in order to appraise the works and the surrounding aspects in an appropriate context and to produce research results on specific topics in the field of literature.
What you'd do
Authors and related writers · ILO- Conceiving, writing and editing novels, plays, scripts, poetry and other material for publication or presentation
- Conducting research to establish factual content and to obtain other necessary information
- Writing scripts and continuities and preparing programmes for stage, film, radio and television productions
- Analysing material, such as specifications, notes and drawings, and creating manuals, instructions for use, user guides and other documents to explain clearly and concisely the installation, operation and maintenance of software, electronic, mechanical and other equipment
- Writing brochures, handbooks and similar technical publications
- Selecting material for publication, checking style, grammar and accuracy of content, arranging for any necessary revisions and checks proof copies before printing
- Indoors
- A mix of sitting and standing
- Lots of contact with people
- Good freedom to decide
- Often more than 40 hours a week
- Deadlines most weeks
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Average prospectsA typical number of jobs will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
Above averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,800 a month (Bulgaria) to €8,800 (Luxembourg), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among professionals in the EU, women earn 21% less per hour than men. Professionals · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Usually a degreeA degree in literature and linguistics is the usual route.
1,154 institutions in the EU offer arts and humanities bachelor's degrees. Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
SignificantlyAI could take on part of most tasks, but none fully.
Average task score 0.55 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 6 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for authors and related writers. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).