Using data for 638 assistant professors who joined graduate sociology departments between 1975 and 1992, I examine the claim that when the labor market for new doctorates is weak, assistant professors experience less favorable employment outcomes than when that labor market is strong. Surprisingly, I find that those hired during the weak…

A more comprehensive view of the community college would emerge, it is proposed, if a sociology of knowledge perspective toward analyses of that institution were adopted. Robert K. Merton's discussion of "insiders" and "outsiders" is applied to the often conflicting images of the role of the community college. (Author/MLW)

Published research productivity of 97 sociologists from a variety of types of institutions is evaluated quantitatively for both the pretenure period and the post-tenure period in the person's career. Data consist of vita and supplementary information, coded into a weighted index that takes journal prestige into account. (Author/LBH)

Using segregation indexes from economics and sociology and national data, the degree of gender segregation by discipline was assessed among college faculty. Results suggest segregation decreased modestly in the early 1970s but has declined little in recent years. Doctoral degree awards in the mid-1970s and mid-1980s indicate an overall increase.…

The structure of geographic mobility from doctoral training to present employment is explored among sociologists, and a moderately strong correspondence between the academic quality of the Ph.D. region and that of the present job region is reported. (Author/LBH)

Data from the Social Science Citation Index are used to measure the differential productivity among graduates of established and prestigiuos doctoral programs. Quality of former graduate students' productivity (publications) is assessed. Patterns concerning the quality of productivity, both across departments and within alumni of the same…

A study using national data investigated extension of the social control theory of deviance to deviance from the four Mertonian norms of science among faculty in seven disciplines. Results suggest social control in the academic profession lies primarily in the community of the academic disciplines rather than with personal controls. (Author/MSE)

Data from a survey of 230 college sociology departments revealed patterns of employment and academic rank among African-American faculty. African Americans do not necessarily have many African-American colleagues, numerical influence in departments, or equality in rank. African-American student population, school location, and dependence on…

Within 40 departments, 10 each of physics, sociology, electrical engineering, and education, faculty commitment to the institution was assessed for each career stage and level of research productivity, examining the relative power of rewards and support variables. A meaningful but differential role for rewards is found among the disciplines.…

Ratings of scholarly journals by department heads in seven disciplines (anthropology, economics, geography, history, philosophy, political science, sociology) are presented by journal title, and criteria and methods for assessing journal quality and visibility are examined. Possible use of such information in institutional personnel decisions is…

A study compared selected personal and environmental motivational variables in college faculty with allocation of work effort to research, scholarship, and service. Faculty were from eight liberal arts and sciences departments in a range of institution types. For all institutional types, self-valuation motivators significantly accounted for the…

A statistical prediction of National Research Council graduate department ratings in six disciplines (from faculty size and characteristics, student body size and characteristics, physical facilities, funding, and program productivity) found at least one measure of faculty or student size to be a significant predictor in all disciplines, and…

Using data from a nationally representative survey of college faculty teaching introductory courses, a study compared the course planning procedures of faculty (n=2,311) in eight disciplines: English composition, history, sociology, psychology, mathematics, fine arts, languages, and business. No key differences were found between full- and…

A study investigated the effects of graduate department structure, department climate, and mentoring experiences on 1,363 doctoral students' subscription to traditional norms of science and to alternative counternorms in 4 disciplines: chemistry, civil engineering, microbiology, and sociology. Substantial ambivalence about traditional norms was…