Speculations about next year

[what is next]

So, I know this job cycle is still ongoing. I, like many others, have noticed that a disproportionate amount of jobs are in crim and to a lesser extent, environmental soc... Has crim always been so popular? Why is that? Also, is next year going to be a more balanced mix of postings? Can we even predict it at all?

I am just expending my anxious, sad energy speculating the future...

[yes]

Yes, crim has been one of the top subfields for hiring for at least 20 years. Many sociology programs, especially today, are bolstered by a large contingent of students interested in careers in criminal justice. Most of those jobs now require a BA, so this has increased the number of students interested in classes related to crim. Many universities have recently opened criminology/criminal justice departments (in an era when other departments are being closed). This is a strong signal that crim will continue to be a high demand subfield.

Can you predict it? Not entirely, but the subfields are pretty consistent over time. ASA publishes reports on this. www.asanet.org/academic-professional-resources/data-about-the-discipline/asa-reports/. Open searches are the most common. Followed by criminology, race/ethnicity, environmental sociology, medical sociology, sex/gender, quant methods, organizations/economic. The exact ordering depends on the year, but in recent years criminology has been the top subfield basically every year. In most years, 2 of the top 3 subfields are crim related (criminology/delinquency and criminal justice). Predicting the other subfield in the top depends on the year. In 2020/2021, race/ethnicity was a top subfield (likely spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement). In the last couple of years environmental has been a top field. AI/computational methods was a huge subfield the last couple of years relative to the number of students who actually use those methods.

I don't think students should choose their interests based solely on the market. But I think programs that don't inform students of these trends in the field are not adequately preparing their students for the reality of trying to get a tenure track job. If you study a very niche subfield of sociology, it will make it significantly harder to get a job than if you study one of the most in demand subfields.

[unsuccessful searches]

an unsuccessful search is a half-decent signal that they'll be hiring within the next two cycles. if someone wants to comb through the boards they could start a thread.

[Question]

Jan 16, 2024 13:35:48 GMT -5 unsuccessful searches said:

an unsuccessful search is a half-decent signal that they'll be hiring within the next two cycles. if someone wants to comb through the boards they could start a thread.

Does one create that thread here or?

[Sporty Spice]

I am so shocked and sad that not a single job posting was for sociology of aging. How is that possible?