Return-Path: sendmail 5.67/UCSD-2.2-sun Date: Wed, 10 Feb 93 15:20:10 EST From: Gregory_Nagy@MTS.cc.Wayne.edu To: socgrad@ucsd.edu Subject: More "rankings" ________________________________________________________________ Message: 567673, 14 lines Imported: 12:06pm EST, Wed Feb 10/93 Subject: re:Tony's Listing To: Gregory Nagy Cc: socgrad@ucsd.edu From: duniway@u.washington.edu Sender: duniway@hardy.u.washington.edu DUNIWAY'S MESSAGE OFFERS UP A LOT OF IMPORTANT QUESTIONS! "...Idealism is great, but the name of the game if you want to be a scholar is having the resources (time, money, quality faculty and graduate students to collaborate with) to do the kind of work you want to do." QUESTION #1: HOW WELL DO THEY COLLABORATE? "Rankings that result from polling department chairs will not seal your fate on the job market, but they do indicate something about how your degree will be evaluated by search committees." QUESTION #2: WHICH SEARCH COMMITTEES ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? Evidently, if you want to land a job, fresh out of grad school, in the inner circle of the so-called "top" soc. programs, it most probably helps to be from one of those institutions yourself. About this there can be little doubt. However, the gatekeepers won't always use your diploma for or against you. As Duniway correctly indicates, "The ranking of the program you are in will have some impact on you ability to access these other resources via a faculty position. It is a significant factor, though probably less significant than things like getting published, working in an area where there is current interest, demonstrating competence, and securing strong support from faculty when you hit the job market." Demonstrating competence, getting published, etc., are all "proof is in the puddin'" activities. Moreover, these things can be demonstrated at any time during one's academic journey. It seems likely that as some positions open up at the "top" University those individuals with established careers and respectable vitae would have greater chances of being hired than some recent grad from a "top" program. It may not take too long to get their either. A 1984 grad from Michigan State is on the faculty at Wisconsin! FINAL QUESTION: HOW MUCH SHOULD WE VALUE RANKINGS? A fellow grad student, from another country, recently sent me an e-mail message about these "rankings". As a budding sociologist of knowledge, I was struck by unique perspective by which he considered this issue. He said that all of this emphasis on rankings seemed peculiar to him. I think that he probably has a better chance of understanding this than most of us. We should all take a giant step back and attempt to analyze this situation as an outsider looking in... Greg Nagy Wayne State P.S. Is "rankings" formally a word? It is now...