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The Sociology of Academic Careers: Problems and Prospects

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Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research

Part of the book series: Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research ((HATR,volume 27))

Abstract

This chapter examines major lines of research in the sociology of science that can inform a more encompassing sociology of academic careers. Higher education studies of faculty can mature by using relevant sociological theory and concepts. Sociological studies of careers can develop by making broader use of educational organizations. The chapter identifies the foundations upon which sociological studies of scientific careers were built and from which studies of faculty can extend. This is followed by a review of three substantive areas: (1) stratification and careers (with a focus on cumulative advantage and disadvantage; organizational bases; reputation, visibility, and influence; age and achievement; and mobility); (2) gender, productivity, and careers; and (3) the social control of careers (with a focus on recruitment and socialization; deviance; and the experience of work). The chapter concludes by highlighting five exemplary research problems that a sociology of academic careers can profitably address.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The sociology of science is wide-ranging, and only one part of it establishes scientific careers as an object of study. Other concerns consist, for example, in the construction of scientific knowledge. A major distinction in the sociology of science lies between institutional sociology of science, developed principally by Robert K. Merton and also known as “Mertonian sociology of science,” and constructivist sociology of science, developed largely (though not exclusively) following the bulk of Merton’s work and that of others whose writings closely paralleled the Merton tradition. For reviews of the sociology of science as a specialty, see Ben-David and Sullivan (1975), Hess (1997), and Zuckerman (1987).

  2. 2.

    One might wonder why a cousin specialty, the sociology of education, did not develop a sustained research line into academic careers or, for that matter, into concerns of higher education more generally. The answer is that the classical sociological theorists confined themselves to schooling in the earliest years, believing, in Durkheim’s words, that this is “where real life began” (Durkheim [1925] 1961). For additional discussion, see Hermanowicz (2007b).

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  1. Department of Sociology, The University of Georgia, Athens, 30602, GA, USA

    Joseph C. Hermanowicz

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Correspondence to Joseph C. Hermanowicz .

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  1. CEPR, 100 Ball Hall, Memphis, TN, 38152-3570, USA

    John C. Smart

  2. Dept. Educational Policy, &, Leadership Studies, University of Iowa, Lindquist Center N491, Iowa City, 52242-1529, Iowa, USA

    Michael B. Paulsen

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Hermanowicz, J.C. (2012). The Sociology of Academic Careers: Problems and Prospects. In: Smart, J., Paulsen, M. (eds) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2950-6_4

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