Outcomes for Women Minority Fellows Differ Strikingly from Male Counterparts

Data analyzed by the Research Department on ASA’s Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) show that women in the MFP are half as likely as their male counterparts in the program to be employed at research-extensive universities, half as likely to receive National Science Foundation and/or National Institutes of Health grants, about two-thirds as likely to become ASA section leaders, and have about half the amount of peer-reviewed journal publications as men in the MFP, since receiving their PhDs.

We speculate that Women in the MFP might be less encouraged to participate in normative academic activities than men in the MFP. For example, publications in grad school usually suggest that one will have a career of scholarly publishing ahead of him/her. Over three-quarters of MFP men had a least one publication prior to receiving their PhDs, compared to 38.1 percent of the MFP women. These differences will require further study. We welcome you to share your thoughts about these findings.

The Impact of Cross-Race Mentoring on PhD Careers

A new research brief, “The Impact of Cross-Race Mentoring for ‘Ideal’ and ‘Alternative’ PhD Careers in Sociology” is now available on our website. As always, we invite your comments and questions.

Question of the Week: Mentoring

The new PowerPoint, “Homosociality or Crossing Race/Ethnicity/Gender Boundaries? Pipeline Interventions and the Production of Scholarly Careers,” compares of career trajectories of sociology PhDs. In this Question of the Week post, we would like to know:

Does crossing racial, ethnic, and/or gender boundaries in mentoring help sociology careers? What has been your experience?

When posting your comment on this discussion topic, please note: do not include your name if you wish to remain anonymous.

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.