Training Sociologists: An Assessment of Professional Socialization and the Emergence of Career Aspirations

The individual and departmental factors affecting graduate students' professional socialization were studied by employing data from 309 PhD students in 16 graduate programs in sociology. Using Rosenbaum's tournament model of opportunity structures and aspects of Tinto's model of socia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Teaching sociology 1995-07, Vol.23 (3), p.199-214
Main Authors: Keith, Bruce, Moore, Helen A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
American Sociological Association
Career Choice
Decision Making
Departments
Education
Funding
Grade point average
Graduate Students
Graduate studies
Higher Education
History and organization of sociology
History, theory and methodology
Human capital
Majors (Students)
Mentoring
Mentors
Occupational Aspiration
Organization of profession, research and teaching. Deontology. Sociology of sociology. Epistemology
Postgraduate students
Prestige
Professional Socialization
Professional Training
Reference Groups
Significant Others
Social Scientists
Socialization
Sociologists
Sociology
Standardized tests
Student Interests
Training
Universities
USA
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Summary:The individual and departmental factors affecting graduate students' professional socialization were studied by employing data from 309 PhD students in 16 graduate programs in sociology. Using Rosenbaum's tournament model of opportunity structures and aspects of Tinto's model of social psychological integration, this study examines students' access to initial funding, resources in the department, indicators of prior ability, current professional activities, mentoring processes, and social psychological factors for their effects on socialization into the academic profession. Access to initial funding and to mentoring have substantial effects on PhD students' professional socialization, but prove to be less than rational processes in the graduate program. This socialization process is found to be based more on particularistic than on universalistic criteria in the allocation of departmental resources and mentoring. Implications for graduate student mentoring, funding, and divergent career paths are highlighted.
ISSN:0092-055X
DOI:10.2307/1319212