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	Sun, 5 Dec 1993 08:52:38 -0800 for socgrad-list
	Sun, 5 Dec 1993 08:52:36 -0800 for <socgrad@ucsd.edu>
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 93 11:52:34 EST
From: David Gibson <dg41@columbia.edu>
To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU
Subject: hiring
I've heard that Berkeley has the same policy. The reason I've been
given for this is that the school in question wants to maximally
influence the course of the discipline nationwide, which would
obviously entail sending representatives elsewhere. I remember
hearing that Parsons sent Bellah to Berkeley for just this reason.
     Relatedly, I would think that the faculty at a given
institution would want to expand their networks as much as
possible, and sending graduates to other institutions would be one
way of doing this. The Ph.D. who has left the nest to take a
position elsewhere would qualify as a "weak tie" for the home
institution's faculty (or at least some subset of them): no longer
tightly integrated into the home department, he or she would become
an even *greater* source of information, etc.
     Finally, Michael mentioned the tendency of a department to
constrain its "short" hiring list to those individuals with degrees
from *more* prestigious universities. Obviously, this precludes the
possibility of a department hiring one of its own. The don't-
return-here policy would keep a recent graduate from applying for
a position at his or her home institution in the first place, and
thus help to avert an unpleasant situation.
     Incidentally, I don't know if Columbia has a formal policy in
this regard. We turn out so few Ph.D.'s that it would practically
be a moot point anyhow. I do recall hearing that a graduate was
offered a position a few years after leaving, but as an exceptional
individual his case is inconclusive.


David Gibson
Columbia