Reflections on public sociology: Public relations, disciplinary identity, and the strong program in professional sociology

Public sociology is an attempt to redress the issues of public engagement and disciplinary identity that have beset the discipline over the past several decades. While public sociology seeks to rectify the public invisibility of sociology, this paper investigates the limitations of it program. Several points of critique are offered. First, public sociology's affiliations with Marxism serve to potentially entrench existing divisions within the discipline. Second, public sociology's advancement of an agenda geared toward a “sociology for publics” instead of a “sociology of publics” imposes limitations on the development of a public interface. Third, the lack of a methodological agenda for public sociology raises concerns of how sociology can compete within a contested climate of public opinion. Fourth, issues of disciplinary coherence are not necessarily resolved by public sociology, and are potentially exacerbated by the invocation of public sociology as a new disciplinary identity. Fifth, the incoherence of professional sociology is obviated, and a misleading affiliation is made between scientific knowledge and the hegemonic structure of the profession. Finally, the idealism of public sociology's putative defense of civil society is explored as a Utopian gesture akin to that of Habermas’ attempt to revive the public sphere. The development of a strong program in professional sociology is briefly offered as a means to repair the disciplinary problems that are illustrated by emergence of the project of public sociology.     

Subalterns of technopoly: brokering techno-power in academic sociology

Drawing on responses to a small-scale sensitizing sociological probe of 'technological stratification' in academic sociology, this article considers the role of academic staff delegated to oversee the distribution of information and communications technology resources within their departments between the years 1987-1996. From their recollections as local 'gatekeepers' of the new knowledge technologies, these 'subalterns of Technopoly' perceived themselves as relatively powerless 'techno-power brokers' unable to make a significant difference to the 'technological stratification' they encountered in their working environments in that period.     

Graduate education and the academic job market

This article reviews actual and projected college enrollments, and demand for faculty, during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Although new PhDs were finding satisfying employment in government, business and industry, many graduate programs in sociology were slow to expand their academically-oriented curricula to include a concern with sociological practice when the academic job market contracted in the late 1970s. This suggests that departments may quickly reestablish narrowly focused curricula once the academic market expands again in the late 1990s. As a result, the multiple career options currently available to graduate students again may be replaced by an exclusive focus on research careers in academia.     

How other academic disciplines approach teaching concerns and the consequences for sociology

Sociology is not the only academic discipline currently interested in teaching concerns. As teaching advocates consider future courses of action, knowledge of what other disciplines are doing provides possible departure points for sociology. This paper presents and discusses other disciplines' concerns and activities in teaching compared with sociology's activities and speculates about the implications of these various concerns and activities.     

Action, movement, and intervention: Reflections on the sociology of Alain Touraine

Cet article examine les déclarations qu'Alain Touraine fait pour sa sociologie de Taction. On argumente qu'alors que Touraine presente une critique puissante des assomptions des fonctionnels en sociologie, sa propre analyse de la société'post-industrielle' ou 'programmée'à des implications historiques et théologiques qui le raménent à une analyse des fonctionnels plus conventionnelle. Nous continuons ensuite à examiner les implications de cette tension centrale pour sa méthode 'd'intervention sociologique' et pour son analyse substantielle de la nature de 'nouveaux mouvements sociaux.
This paper examines the claims Alain Touraine makes for his sociology of action. It is argued that while Touraine presents a powerful critique of functionalist assumptions in sociology, his own analysis of the 'post-industrial' or 'programmed' society has historicist and teleological implications which lead him back towards more conventional functionalist analysis. We examine the implications of this central tension for his method of 'sociological intervention' and for his substantive analysis of the nature of 'new social movements.     

Reflections on doing policy-relevant sociology: How to cope with MADD mothers

The author’s experiences in studying the ability of law to deter drunk driving lead him to conclude that research is selectively used by various politically-involved groups. These groups frequently are committed to specific definitions of a policy problem and to specific approaches to its resolution. The researcher finds that his product is not used for the purpose of selecting among alternative policy options, but instead it serves to supply rationalizations for positions to which the involved groups are previously committed. H. Laurence Ross is professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico, and is a Fulbright lecturer to Finland in 1987. He is the author ofDeterring The Drinking Driver: Legal Policy and Social Control, andSettled Out of Court: A Sociological Study of Insurance Claims Adjustment.     

Self determination theory and employed job search

Self Determination Theory (SDT) predicts that employees who use controlled motivation to search for alternate (better) work are less successful than their counterparts who use autonomous motivation. Using Australian labour market data, we find strong support for SDT. We find that workers who face externally regulated pressures (pressure arising from involuntary part-time or casual labour contracts) to search for alternate employment are less likely to find better work, than workers who use autonomous motives to search for work. Our findings suggest that labour market policies trending towards ‘labour market flexibility/deregulation’ – which provide workers with controlled motives to search for work – will contribute to workers cycling through spells of insecure employment and possibly intermittent spells of unemployment with no realistic prospect of career development.     

International job search: Mexicans in and out of the US

It is argued that migration from Mexico to the US and return migration are determined by international wage differentials and preferences for origin. We use a model of job search, savings and migration to show that job turnover is a crucial determinant of the migration process. We estimate this model by Simulated Method of Moments (SMM) and find that migration practically disappears, it goes down from 19 to 0.5%, had Mexico US arrival rates while employed. A lower decrease in migration, to 7%, occurs by an increase in Mexican wage offers. On the other hand, doubling migration costs reduces migration rates from 19 to 5%, while subsidizing return migration in $300 reduces migration rates only to 14%.     

The identity career of the graduate student: Professional socialization to academic sociology

The pathway through graduate school is challenging and difficult. Nearly everyone, at one point or another, confronts the existential question of whether they want to drop out or to continue. Several challenges emerge as key to graduate students’ success in progressing through their programs. p]The first is moving from the secure but sometimes suffocating structure of a core graduate cohort into the role of independent student. This requires navigating an individual pathway into areas of specialization and a mentor. Programs can do no more than make faculty and courses available; from there, students must make connections and decisions on their own. The second critical transition involves moving from absorbing to creating knowledge. Accomplishing this requires that students grasp the conceptual foundation of the perspective (the “sociological eye”), learn how to gather data, to master the challenge of moving from immersion in the specificity of their research to contribute to more abstract theory, and to understand the conventions through which they must present their scholarly work. Along the way there are myriad interpersonal challenges for them to negotiate. Allegiances that they forge are then relinquished to make way for new, more stage-relevant ones. Students often undergo radical changes in their values and consciousness as they progress through their programs. They are bonded into an equalitarian model of evaluation and support in their cohesive, early years in the cohort. But as they forge scholarly accomplishments and turn their eyes increasingly toward the discipline, they recognize that their democratic ideals must yield to the meritocratic reality of the profession.     

Self-referent constructs and medical sociology: in search of an integrative framework

A theoretical framework centering on four classes of self-referent constructs is offered as a device for integrating the diverse areas constituting medical sociology. Guidance by this framework sensitizes the researcher to the occurrence of parallel processes in adjacent disciplines, facilitates recognition of the etiological significance of findings from other disciplines for explaining medical sociological phenomena, and encourages transactions between sociology and medical sociology whereby each informs and is informed by the other.     

Potential expansion of the academic job market: Opportunities for sociologists

Following a period of a restricted and declining academic market, an expansion of such opportunity for sociologists is forecast. The next decade will be characterized by increasing enrollments, particularly after 1995, and an increasing percentage of faculty currently employed within academia will pass the normal age of retirement. The “uncapping” of age of retirement is not expected to have a significant impact on the need to replace older faculty. Despite a decline in the production of Ph.D.’s during the 1980s, there continues to exist a significant pool of underutilized sociologists. The impact of this oversupply will depend upon more than the increase in demand within academic institutions. The number of sociologists employed outside academia increased during the 1980s, and this trend is expected to continue. Conclusions must remain tentative because of the severe limitations of available data, and additional data collection and analysis is suggested. Nevertheless, the next decade is seen as a time of expanding opportunities for sociologists, and the market for their service is seen as becoming increasingly competitive. He served as vice president for academic affairs and provost from 1980 to 1988. He is the immediate past vice president of the American Sociological Association.     

An economic analysis of the job search decisions for Canadian nurses

The goal of this study is to provide a detailed analysis of the job search decisions of nurses in Canada. The results of this study show that the most important variables influencing the probability of searching for a new job are annual earnings and satisfaction with pay. Socio-economic variables and individual attitudes have an effect for some groups, but these variables are less important. There are differences between women who are and are not currently employed as nurses and this could potentially be a beneficial group to study in terms of policies to recruit and retain nurses in the profession.     

Household job search: A theoretical and empirical model

This article links the literature on family decision making and the economics of job search by examining job search by an unemployed individual within a household context. A theoretical model was developed which demonstrates the interdependence of the utility of household members when one is searching for work. The costs of search are borne by all household members while the benefits are captured in the searcher's expected future wage. A reservation wage was shown to be determined by household financing options, and the perception of relevant labor market parameters. An empirical model of the reservation wage for a sample of unemployment insurance recipients was estimated using two-stage least squares. Results, reported for male and female subgroups, support the hypotheses derived from the household job search model. In particular, the reservation wage was shown to depend on unemployment duration, labor market conditions, increased labor force participation of other household members, use of household assets to finance search, existence of dependents, and unemployment insurance benefits.     

Reflections on the intersection of power and competition in reflecting teams as applied to academic settings

This article explores the author's experiences with the concepts of power and competition as they intersect with aspects of reflecting team practices in academic settings. It draws upon Bishop's (2002) work, the elements of which are based on Starhawk's (1987) ideas of power with and power over. The article describes how competition and other power over practices of domination might unfold and intersect with reflecting-team practices. It is proposed that a power over practice, such as competition, which is prevalent in our society and universities, can be incompatible with the collaborative nature of reflecting teams. Suggestions for addressing the dissonance between the environment and reflecting team practice are offered.     

Pensions and job search: Survey evidence from unionized workers in canada

Research on the disincentives for quitting under employer-sponsored pension plans have limited generalizability as tests of the implicit contract thesis because of the way that job changing, pension back-loading, and plausible alternative explanations for pension effects have been operationalized. Using a unique data set that addresses some of these concerns, I find that pension back-loading and insecurity about the viability of a long-term employment contract are quantitatively the most significant determinants of job search intentions, followed by other seniority related benefits, such as vacation pay and shared investments in firm-specific training. No support for pension information, wage tilt, or efficiency wage arguments is found. Males and the better educated are also more likely to intend to search. Implications for theory, policy, and future research are discussed. I thank Morley Gunderson for helpful comments made on an earlier draft of this paper. Financial assistance from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council is gratefully acknowledged.     

Market expectations,job search,and gender differences in starting pay

Search theory suggests that if a woman anticipates discriminatory treatment in the labor market, she will lower her reservation wage which would, in turn, lead to lower pay. This prediction is tested using a data set of graduating college seniors. Results show that women had lower starting-pay expectations, even for men and women with the same major, job-market information, and job-search strategies. Lower pay expectations led to lower pay outcomes for women. However, women who engaged more intensively in career planning had pay expectations and starting pay more in line with those of men.