What’s Wrong with Us? Sexual Misconduct and the Discipline of Political Science

ABSTRACT

Sexual misconduct matters not only when it is perpetuated by political actors in political institutions. It matters wherever it happens and whomever it happens to, because it is, at its base, political. Politics is fundamentally about power: who gets what, when, and how. As political scientists it should be at the heart of what we study, but it isn’t. Our discipline creates artificial (and somewhat arbitrary) boundaries about which studies of politics count as meaningful research and which do not. We discourage research that explores more expansive notions of how politics is practiced in broader society. As academics we have the luxury of speaking out. I argue here that political scientists ought to embrace an expansive definition of politics to address the real questions of power, its abuse in our society and in our profession.     

Recent trends in faculty employment in sociology

Using 1996-2000 data from the American Sociological Association Employment Bulletin, we examined trends in the availability of full-time, tenure-track faculty positions in sociology. In doing so, we found evidence that

Family-Based Social Capital Considerations as Predictors of Attainments Among Appalachian Youth

The purpose of this study was to explore social and human capital theory in application to status attainment research using a sample of 463 low-income youth from rural Appalachian families. Comparisons were made between social capital variables based in the family of origin and social interaction variables based in the broader community as influences on the status attainment of youth. Surveys of youth were conducted during a ten-year longitudinal study (i.e., three assessments conducted during fifth/sixth grades and eleventh/twelfth grades, and for ages twenty-one/twenty-two). Path analyses confirmed some of the social interaction hypotheses but demonstrated eve greater support for individual human and family social capital variables in explaining young adult attainment outcomes. Support was provided for the inclusion of family-based social capital variables as a means of gaining a broader understanding of youth attainment.     

Transition and the community college: a Career Keys model for students with disabilities

Transition models are needed that address multiple phases in the postsecondary education of students with disabilities. These models must first address the recruitment of high school students with disabilities for community colleges through career exploration experiences that help students clarify their educational and vocational interests and relate those interests to a two-year postsecondary program. Students with disabilities then need a comprehensive service program while attending community college to help them identify accommodation needs in classroom and workplace environments and develop the skills to request such accommodations from their instructors and employers. With this skill base, they are well prepared to initiate the next transition in their lives, that is, the movement from the community college to a four-year educational institution or to employment. Programs are needed to facilitate this transition, such as a placement planning seminar involving rehabilitation professionals and employers and an accommodation follow-up assessment with students in their new educational and employment settings. The "Career Keys" model describes how to deliver the services needed in each of these critical transition phases.