not only publications
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Post by not only publications on Jan 15, 2014 17:21:49 GMT -5
also some people have real and a lot of teaching experience (not talking about being a TA but having created and taught their own classes), grant funding, committee experience, applied skills, etc.
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lower teaching load abroad
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Post by lower teaching load abroad on Jan 15, 2014 21:58:48 GMT -5
Thanks for your reflections, "Research the world." I was wondering if you might be able to share some of the resources you used for finding opportunities outside the US. I'd also be very curious to hear any information about how you, or anyone else, has navigated this issue with a non-academic spouse/partner. I'm fortunate to have a supportive and adventurous spouse, but I worry about finding opportunities for us both. In some countries getting a job with a 2/2 or 2/3 teaching load is easier than in the US. I see people get those jobs in my country even without much of a publication record. Having a PhD from the US of UK helps a lot. Sometimes there is also domestic support for research which is less competitive than in the US. So if you get a job like that, and you work as hard as you would here, then I would guess you can improve your pub record and have more chances of getting a job in the US. The issues is that because there is less pressure to publish, people don't tend to publish in prestigious English language journals. If the university counts all peer reviewed publications (or all ISI ranked pubs) as if they were the same, people just send their stuff to journals where it's easier to get into. Also, I think in the global South, where inequality is high, salaries for PhDs tend to be proportionally higher than in the US (in relation to the cost of living). So look into what the teaching load and cost of living is in the places where you would consider applying. I know that the Latin American Studies Association publishes some adds to work in Latin America and would expect other regional studies associations to do the same. But I know that very few of the jobs in my country are posted in LASA. Some countries may have centralized systems, but I think in general it's better to do networking in the places where you'd like to go. Also, note that you probably need to know the language, but not be a specialist in the country/region. In Latin America they want people who study other parts of the world; they already have lots of Latinamericanists, but they want to know about Asia, Europe, US, etc. Good luck!
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more on homogeneity
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Post by more on homogeneity on Jan 16, 2014 2:21:55 GMT -5
Seeing the hires so far, I must admit that homogeneity (preference for white American women/men) also crossed my mind. All prejudices/stereotypes aside, it's what's to be expected given that the racial composition of most (not all) departments at most (not all) universities is white. This is not to say that any white person will automatically be hired. That, of course, like others have already stated is impossible due to the shortage of jobs for the number of actual job seekers.
But it wouldn't be hard to put these theories to test--to prove them true or false--by simply noting the race and gender of hires for sociology jobs during this cycle.
It's also important to understand that oftentimes when minorities get hired, it is primarily for race and ethnicity, race/class/gender, Latino/a studies, African/African American Studies, Asian/Asian American Studies positions and not for a general call for a medical sociologist, a quantitative researcher, or the like. It would also be interesting to see who gets positions depending on if the call is for an open position, a race-specific position, a gender-specific position, or any other category.
I don't think that when people make statements about homogeneity, they are in any way demeaning the accomplishments of any of the hires. It's definitely OK to have an impressive CV and be a American upper/middle class white woman/man. It's also OK for people to make an observation that most of the hires are American upper/middle class white man/woman, if that is truly what they are seeing.
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Post by Actually on Jan 16, 2014 9:38:10 GMT -5
It is hard to put these theories to the test because we don't know what the pipeline for these jobs looks like. Simply noting the race and gender of hires is actually not a good way to test any theory (and certainly doesn't "prove" much) since when we do that we are sampling on the dependent variable. For example, the observed pattern (and ideally we'd be more precise about what that pattern is) could be due to demand side dynamics such as discrimination, institutional racism, or unconscious bias, or it could be due to supply side dynamics such as the channeling of students of particular backgrounds to particular subfields or the general distribution of Ph.D. students in sociology. Not that I disagree in principle with what you're saying but it is important to approach such a sensitive topic rigorously.
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Post by doesn't add up on Jan 16, 2014 16:05:18 GMT -5
I've heard this before too. But if someone is on the job market this sort of practice makes zero sense. What is the upside to concealing your scholarly accomplishments?? Of all the points in one's scholarly career being on the job market is precisely when you want to make your record as publicly visible as possible.
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Post by Merit on Jan 16, 2014 17:34:10 GMT -5
^ Sociology is like any other meritocracy. Those who do the work required to earn their way up the ladder are often baffled when those without similar qualifications leapfrog their way over everyone else. That's because, as with any other meritocracy, connections, ability to schmooze and ingratiate yourself to others, demographics, diversity policies, fear, envy, and all sorts of other hidden factors come into play. On the surface it's a meritocracy, beneath the surface it's a different story. Same as it ever was.
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Post by beware on Jan 16, 2014 19:54:48 GMT -5
I've heard this before too. But if someone is on the job market this sort of practice makes zero sense. What is the upside to concealing your scholarly accomplishments?? Of all the points in one's scholarly career being on the job market is precisely when you want to make your record as publicly visible as possible. I don't mean that people conceal their scholarly achievements. I mean that people may not generally post all the information in publicly available CVs. Like, for example, having a book under contract: not everyone will post that information in an online CV, but they will likely mention it in applications, cover letters, etc. All I was saying is that publicly available CVs (i.e., the ones we have access to as outsiders) frequently don't tell the whole story of a person's record. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
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Post by Research the world on Jan 16, 2014 21:44:14 GMT -5
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Post by Archivist on Feb 7, 2014 14:06:34 GMT -5
The off-topic discussion about SLAC vs State School has been moved at the request of the participants.
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Saturated Market Forever
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Post by Saturated Market Forever on Feb 11, 2014 18:04:50 GMT -5
I wonder how one would determine just how many people are applying for jobs and how many jobs are actually available. It seems that this last job market cycle is starting to awaken faculty hired in the boom years. Given that this is happening in virtually all disciplines, we have the potential for a significant structural crisis. Adjuncts are finally getting some attention from the government and there is a growing realization that a system that privileges publications in--let's be honest--a very few insular journals, is not a sustainable model.
The world is going through a period of creative destruction. Academia is not immune. Our current tenure system is not immune.
What we can look forward to in academia:
1. admitting less graduate students 2. professors grading and doing more grunt work 3. "public or perish" over "publish or perish" 4. renewed emphasis and merit increases based on teaching assessments 5. lots and lots of competition
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Post by ^Hm on Feb 11, 2014 20:55:45 GMT -5
I'm not sure about #2 - grading maybe, but please, we still have workstudies. #3 and #4.... probably depends on the school. #5 you bet.
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Post by lol on Feb 13, 2014 0:17:54 GMT -5
Publish and perish?
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Post by alternatives on Dec 16, 2014 17:18:43 GMT -5
Everyone seems to agree that there needs to be less Sociology PhD's. There are probably many potential students that read this board as part of their research in picking a major. What advice would you give as to alternative major? Let's set up a hypothetical situation where a student got their undergrad in Sociology, LOVES the subject, would like to go to grad school to study Sociology. They stumble across this thread and are now concerned. What alternative fields should they look at if they are passionate about the subject but also want a job one day?
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Post by none on Dec 16, 2014 18:22:16 GMT -5
Everyone seems to agree that there needs to be less Sociology PhD's. There are probably many potential students that read this board as part of their research in picking a major. What advice would you give as to alternative major? Let's set up a hypothetical situation where a student got their undergrad in Sociology, LOVES the subject, would like to go to grad school to study Sociology. They stumble across this thread and are now concerned. What alternative fields should they look at if they are passionate about the subject but also want a job one day? You are looking at this the wrong way. This isn't a sociology specific problem, it is a problem with the academic labor market in general. Anthropology or political science aren't doing appreciably better. Within the fields that are a bit better, like economics or business, the reason is a mixture of higher barriers to entry and more non-academic jobs. So if you want to pursue a social science and also get a job some day, it is not really about which discipline you pick, but about acquiring skills (solid methods foundation, grant writing experience, some programming) that would also open doors to a non-academic job. You won't simply find a field where academic jobs are plentiful.
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Post by alternatives on Dec 17, 2014 8:26:39 GMT -5
Agreed, academic jobs across the board are very difficult to get. But is there really demand for Sociology outside of academia? My question more relates to if Sociology is your passion, what related fields or majors will get you jobs in a non-academic context?
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