New England Sociological Association

Footnotes | March 2011 Issue | Sociological Careers: Finding Your Way Outside the Academy

Paula Chambers, Versatile PhD

In the November 2010 issue of Footnotes, ASA Executive Officer Sally Hillsman noted a long-term decrease in academic hiring and urged the discipline to broaden its vision of sociological careers to include applied practice in business, government, and nonprofit settings—in accordance with the ASA mission, which explicitly includes practitioners. She described the dilemma faced by graduate students who may be interested in applied careers but are afraid to say so for fear of being viewed as “second-class citizens.”

While not a sociologist, I can testify that it is much the same in the humanities. Graduate students often receive the message from their professors and departments that the only respectable employment outcome for a new PhD is an academic position. Hence students interested in applied practice are effectively discouraged from pursuing that interest. Those who do ask about non-academic careers are seldom provided with ideal support, as most professors and departments are ill-equipped to provide that type of professional development. It’s quite unfortunate because these days, most new PhDs will end up outside the academy at some point anyway whether they are prepared and supported, or not.

Filed under: News on April 27th, 2011