The Organization Set: A Study of Sociology Departments

• Published in: The American sociologist 1970-02, Vol.5 (1), p.25-29
• Main Author: Gross, George R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic degrees; College instruction; Doctoral degrees; Graduate studies; Graduates; Organization/Organizations/ Organizational/ Organize/ Organizers/ Organized/ Organizing; Prestige; Sociology; Universities
• ISSN: 0003-1232; 1936-4784

Theodore Caplow's concept org set serves as the theoretical base for studying the consequences of org'al prestige diff's for interorg'al relations, particularly the flow of personnel between org's, & specifically, the consequences for the entry & interchange of teaching faculty among graduate sociol dept's. Allan Cartter's list of the top 20 graduate sociol dept's, based on 'distinguished faculty,' as designated in An Assessment of Quality in Graduate Education (1965), is used as the index of org'al prestige ranking. For faculty listings & biographical data other references are utilized. Graduate dept's are the foci of the investigation because of their assumed importance for the development of young scholars. Data indicate that top 20 graduate teaching positions are available for top 20 candidates almost exclusively, & to top 5-Berkeley, Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, & Michigan-candidates in particular. Only 6% of the members of top 20 faculties were non-PhD's & only 14% of the top 20 faculty had PhD's from non-top 20 dept's. For non-top 20 PhD recipients the chances of obtaining a teaching position in the top 5 seem very slim indeed. Apparently the seasoned scholar who has spent a number of yrs building a professional reputation has a limited opportunity to enter the top 5, whereas the more recent non-top 20 graduate appears to be completely out of the running. The top 20 dept's granted 54% of the Sociol PhD's awarded between 1920 & 1961; the top 5 produced 30% of the total in these yrs. This shows amazingly stable situation, esp in light of the proliferation of U's offering the doctorate in recent yrs. In their hiring practices the top 20, esp the top 5-with the exception of Berkeley-tend to be both 'incestuous' & 'endogomous.' Among the top 20 the % of 'home grown' faculty appears to have become stable at approximately 15%. From the data it is concluded that graduate sociol dept's evidence many of the characteristics of an org set. Org'al prestige indeed has consequences for the interchange of personnel between org's. Modified AA.