I asked the following as an off-topic follow up question on another thread, and u/bernardito encouraged me to post it as it’s own question for wider discussion:
Is there a non-academic route that is generally accepted for becoming a professional historian?
I have autism, and traditional academia has not been a workable path for me for a variety of reasons. However, I’m a highly skilled and motivated autodidact. I’ve made a series of successful careers with this ability, but my main loves are more typically academic pursuits (history, archaeology) and I’ve not yet been able to identify a successful way to enter that type of field without going through academia to get there. I’ve seen these pursuits as essentially closed to me for that reason.
As the cost of higher education becomes more and more prohibitive and the academic jobs available seem to dwindle, I suspect I am not alone in searching for a way to bypass the gatekeeping of academia. The problem seems to me to be that there isn’t a viable alternative method to prove to others that I have obtained competency in a field of study. There’s no “test out” option for a degree.
Am I wrong about that? Are there alternative pathways?
It depends on what you mean by "professional historian."
As a rule, at least in my field (ancient Mediterranean history), academics will generally not take a person seriously as a research historian unless they (1) have a PhD in an area directly relevant to their research and (2) publish their research in reputable journals and through reputable academic presses. If you are not able to earn a PhD, then becoming a professional research historian who publishes for academics probably isn't an option for you. There are lots of other possible careers, though, that involve history that aren't in academia.
One obvious career option for someone who is passionate about history and who has a knack for teaching is to become a high school history teacher. My understanding is that, at least in the United States where I live, this requires at least bachelor's degree in education or history, plus certification as a teacher in the jurisdiction in which you plan to teach, but it does not require a PhD or even necessarily a master's.
There are downsides to becoming a high school history teacher. As I mentioned, it requires at least a bachelor's. The pay for high school teachers is also abysmal and it inherently means having to work with rowdy teenagers and keep them constantly under control. High school teachers I have talked to have told me that the vast majority of their work is dealing with students, rather than actual teaching. If you love history and you love teaching, though, and you don't mind being underpaid and having to constantly corral teenagers, it could be an option for you.
Alternatively, if you are especially talented at communicating, it is possible (albeit very difficult) to earn a living through popular history/history communication. I have a little bit of personal experience with this, since I have an ancient history blog, Tales of Times Forgotten, which I am currently making some income off of. The money I'm making off the blog is nowhere near enough for me to live off of, but I'm not currently really trying to make a living off of it and I do know some people who do history communication full time who are making enough to support themselves.
Going into history communication basically means forging your own career path, it requires communication skills above all else, and the success rate is far from stellar, but it is at least a possibility for some people. It does not necessarily require a bachelor's degree in history or a related field, but not having a degree can definitely hurt your credibility.
There are also some other possibilities in some communities for work as a local historian, archivist, or historical preservationist. I know that lots of small towns and communities across the United States have local historical associations, which sometimes have a few paid, full-time employees.
Five years ago, for my Eagle Scout project, I worked with the local historical association for my hometown where I grew up. I know that, at the time, they had an office, a museum, at least one museum guide, at least one caretaker, a couple of executives, and I think maybe a couple of secretaries. I don't imagine that the pay working for those sorts of small, local organizations is especially good and I don't know what qualifications they require, but those jobs do at least exist.
There are also some job possibilities in local libraries. My mother currently works a part-time job as a professional genealogist in the genealogy department of the local library of the town where I grew up. She has a master's degree, but not in history or anything related, and she got the job mainly because she has decades of experience doing genealogy and family history. Again, the pay is not very much and, for her, it's a part-time job that she does in addition to her other job, but it is an example of a job that involves history.
Yes! So much of academia is a diminishing and excessively competitive job market with poor quality of life balances that in my opinion, isn’t worth it. There’s options in the US in historic preservation and archaeology that are hands-on (either surveying under Section 106 or in trades) that could be interesting for you?
To OP, are you saying that you're not able to/ interested in pursuing any higher education degree? You don't necessarily need a PhD to work in public history or archaeology, but a BA at least is going to be a requirement for most jobs in the field (though see the previous comments for a few possible alternatives).