Resources for Careers Beyond Academia

Graduate students and recent graduates: we share with you a list of resources especially relevant to those at the Master’s and Doctoral level, courtesy of the American Sociological Association’s Sociological Practice listserv. These resources are particularly useful for those seeking or interested in careers outside of academia:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s New Pathways Program

Executive Order for the New Pathways Program took effect July 10, 2012: http://www.pmf.gov/news-events/new-pathways-programs.aspx. This program streamlines pathways to federal internships and opportunities for careers in the Federal government for students and recent graduates): http://www.usajobs.gov/StudentsAndGrads. The three programs of this New Pathways Program are:

1.  Federal Internship Program: http://www.opm.gov/HiringReform/Pathways/program/interns/
2. Recent Graduates Program: http://www.opm.gov/HiringReform/Pathways/program/graduates/
3. Presidential Management Fellows Program: http://www.pmf.gov/

Students interested in the Presidential Management Fellows Program should sign-up for the PMF listserv to receive updates on the eligibility and 2013 application cycle. They can subscribe by sending an email to listserv@listserv.opm.gov with “Subscribe PMF” in the body of the email.

What Do You Want to Know About Sociology Departments or Programs?

This year, the ASA Research Department will be conducting a new survey of sociology departments and programs. We are asking departments for their input as we begin drafting the 2012 questionnaire. What would you like to see addressed in the new survey? What are the issues that your department or program are currently facing? What information does the Dean want to know?

Please post your comments.

Looking for Data on Sociology?

Want to know how many bachelors degrees were awarded in sociology in 1990? Or maybe how sociology faculty salaries compare to political science? You can find this, and other data on sociology and social science degrees and enrollment, employment, funding, and sociology programs, as well as ASA membership on our Trend Data page. Links to similar datasets can be found on our Data Resources page.

New Findings on Masters Degree Programs

We have just posted a new data brief on the survival of masters programs. Are Masters Programs Closing? What Makes for Success in Staying Open discusses findings from a follow-up to our 2009 survey of graduate program directors. Findings from that earlier survey are available in What Can I Do With a Masters Degree in Sociology? The Department in Context.

For additional research on masters programs, visit the What Can I Do With a Masters Degree in Sociology? webpage.

New Findings on the Sociology Pipeline

Now available on the website are two new PowerPoint presentations exploring different aspects of the sociology pipeline.

• Findings From ASA Surveys of Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD Recipients: Implications for Departments in a Jobless Recovery

• Homosociality or Crossing Race/Ethnicity/Gender Boundaries? Pipeline Interventions and the Production of Scholarly Careers

Feel free to post comments and questions, and to share similar experiences.

Note: all comments are publicly visible. Do not include your name if you wish to remain anonymous.

New Data Brief on Findings From a Study of Master’s Candidates

Since 2009, we’ve been tracking the career and educational paths of graduates of sociology Master’s programs. Did they go on to obtain PhDs, or immediately enter the job market? And if so, in what types of programs and jobs? How are these outcomes related to the sociological skills and concepts learned at this level, satisfaction with their programs, and the social capital they’ve developed?

The new data brief, From Programs to Careers: Continuing to Pay Attention to the Master’s Degree in Sociology examines program characteristics, student experiences, and outcomes.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Click here to post comments and questions on this topic. Do include your name if you wish to remain anonymous.

Join the Discussion: Why are Sociology Majors and Graduates Dissatisfied with their Institution’s Career Prep?

A QUESTION F OUR READERS:   Why are bachelors and masters sociology degree holders dissatisfied with the career preparation and advising at their institutions? Should this be the responsibility of faculty members?

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A little background from ASA’s survey findings…

In a 2005 survey, sociology majors evaluating their undergraduate programs reported that they were least satisfied with the quality of career advising. Graduates of terminal masters programs expressed the same dissatisfaction when asked to evaluated aspects of their program in a 2009 survey. Why?

When we first surveyed seniors in the sociology major in 2005, as part of a longitudinal study on sociology baccalaureates, nearly three quarters of the cohort reported that they intended to exclusively work and not going to graduate school within 12 months of graduating, although 50 percent reported actually being employed (some while also attending graduate school) when surveyed again in 2007. See our research briefs on initial findings from the Bachelors and Beyond Survey, and the 2007 follow-up report, “What Are They Doing With a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology?“.

When looking at graduate programs, we find that a significant number enter masters programs in sociology for vocational reasons, as reported by the ASA Task Force on the Masters Degree in Thinking About the Master’s Degree in Sociology: Academic, Applied, Professional, and Everything in Between. In a 2009 survey of directors of graduate programs, one third of 122 responding departments offering a terminal master’s degrees in sociology had a professional, applied, or clinical track.  (See “What Can I Do with a Master’s in Sociology? The Department as Context”). Almost 60 percent of masters graduates responding to our student survey in that same year said that they enrolled in a masters program with the expectations of obtaining a better job, and about 43 percent of respondents said that they did not expect to pursue a PhD or other graduate training, at least within the foreseeable future. (See “Paying Attention to the Master’s Degree in Sociology.”)

What explains this dissatisfaction?

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We invite readers to share their opinions, experiences, and comments on this issue by clicking on Add Comment at the end of this post.

Note: do not provide personal information if you wish to remain anonymous.

Considering a Master’s Degree in Sociology?

In early 2009, the ASA’s Research Department invited more than 1,400 Master’s candidates to participate in a two-part longitudinal study designed to answer the question: What becomes of the Master’s graduate? Do they go on to obtain PhD’s? Will they immediately enter the labor market, and if so, in what types of jobs? how are these outcomes related to the sociological skills and concepts learned at this level, the planned learning experiences in which they participated, the social capital they developed, and the job placement programs that existed?

Initial analysis from the first phase of the study, What Can I Do with a Master’s in Sociology?, points to the importance of including career training and advising in sociology programs. Respondents are very satisfied or satisfied with program characteristics such as the quality of teaching, having the ability to see faculty outside of class, interacting with their fellow students, and having access to technology. They are significantly less satisfied with the quality of career counseling. Dissatisfaction with career counseling is especially frustrating for the 43 % of respondents who do not intend to pursue a PhD in sociology. The first research brief in this study, Paying Attention to the Master’s Degree in Sociology, discusses the experiences among master’s students and their different reasons for entering, and expectations of, a master’s program.

Click here to post a comment.

Note: do not include your name if you wish to remain anonymous.

What Are They Doing With a Master’s Degree in Sociology?

This month, over 1,400 Master’s candidates received an invitation to participate in an online survey as part of the ASA’s new longitudinal study of Master’s candidates in sociology. This is a two-year survey; the first year focuses on their experiences in their Master’s programs and goals upon obtaining their degree and the second examines employment and additional education outcomes. (Findings from the survey will be reported on an ongoing basis on the ASA website.) With this study, we seek to bridge the information gap, and provide information to students interested in applied and professional degrees and to faculty members developing or running these programs.

Visit the new webpage, What Can I Do With a Master’s in Sociology? to learn more about the study, view findings from a survey of graduate directors, preview the Phase I student survey, and purchase a copy of the report, Thinking About the Master’s Degree in Sociology: Academic, Applied and Everything in Between, by the ASA Task Force on the Master’s Degree.

For questions, contact Janene Scelza at scelza@asanet.org