The Status of Sociology within the Academy: Where We Are, Why We’re There, and How to Change It

We present data from a survey of deans at colleges and universities throughout the USA on the relative status of disciplines. Findings indicate that the relative status of Sociology within the academy is low, although there are several specific areas of high status—namely, concerning community involvement and engagement. Our analyses also investigate which areas of activity are most closely associated with the overall prestige of disciplines. Findings indicate that research-oriented activities are the most influential, while student-oriented activities have a more ambivalent association with status. Based on those findings, we offer suggestions for raising the status of the discipline, based on the cultivation of natural synergies linking research, community engagement, student training, and focusing on the benefits of establishing social science research centers associated with Sociology departments.     

Formulating Rawls's principles of justice

Theory and Decision -     

The Quality of Recent Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) Meetings: Location,Session Quality and Institutional Change

Employing data (n?=?734) collected from those having attended the Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) annual meetings held in San Diego, California (2012) and Reno, Nevada (2013), we test whether session quality and host-city satisfaction are positively associated with how respondents rated the overall quality of the meetings. A majority (54 %) of respondents reported the quality of the meetings highly (“Above Average” or “Excellent”), and suggestive of the importance of conference location, this declined from 64 % in 2012 to 41 % in 2013. Controlling for individual characteristics and institutional affiliation, regression results intimate that both host-city satisfaction and session quality are positively associated with how respondents rated the overall quality of the meetings. And they suggest that the former is somewhat more important than the latter for explaining variation in meeting quality. A final stage of our analysis (n?=?205) finds that attendees’ evaluations of changes in how the 2013 PSA meetings were developed and organized are positively associated with meeting quality without diminishing the independent effects of session or location quality. We discuss implications of these results for future PSA meetings, as well as for research investigating how to improve the quality of regional academic conferences more generally.     

Thirty Five Years of Viewing Sociology as an External Program Reviewer: A Dean’s Perspective on How Administrators View Sociology

The author, who has served as an external program reviewer for 17 sociology program reviews, gives his perspective on the views that academic administrators have of sociology. On the plus side, administrators view sociology as a discipline that teaches many students; values and incorporates diversity; produces research aimed at ameliorating societal problems; and is involved in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary projects. On the negative side, administrators are likely to see sociology as (1) deficient in grants, research and peer reviewed publications; (2) deficient in rigor of curriculum; (3) contentious and non-collegial; (4) too ideological; (5) isolated within the college/university and not sufficiently involved in campus governance; (6) too focused on tenure track positions lost over the years; (7) not sufficiently involved with assessment of student learning outcomes and community service learning; and (8) unable to understand the values and priorities of academic institutions and administrators. The author offers some suggestions on how sociology can eliminate these deficiencies.     

Sociology in the Academy: A Study in Contradictions?

In this essay, the authors present data collected in mixed-method and multi-phased projects that reveal some troubling contradictions within the discipline of Sociology. From a range of respondents, students through college presidents, several themes emerge that may not bode well for Sociology if left unchecked. Most important are the conflicting demands to provide large General Education classes while maintaining a robust, rigorous curriculum for Sociology majors; to meet university standards for scholarly production while allowing for work that is not within the traditional definitions of research; and to increase interdisciplinary collaboration without diluting the discipline.     

Social security and fertility: An international perspective

A number of population scholars have asserted that social security programs such as old-age programs lead to decreased fertility levels because parents need not rely on children for "security" in old age. There is, however, a paucity of empirical data on the above. This paper analyzes 67 countries and shows that social security programs have a measurable negative effect on subsequent levels of fertility. In fact, the social security programs appear to have as much of an independent impact on fertility as do the traditional correlates of fertility (infant mortality, education and per capita income).