Return-Path: list-relay@UCSD.EDU
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 1996 12:23:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Laura Miller <lmiller@weber.ucsd.edu>
To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU
Subject: job ratio
You bet this analysis is way off.  It's true that there were far more jobs for
criminologists than any other field, but 40 non-crim jobs is a ridiculous
number -- I must have applied for 40 soc jobs myself, and of course I only
applied to open positions or those areas I could conceivably match.  If
someone was very industrious, they could count the positions listed in the
ASA Employment Bulletin for peak job period -- say from August through
January.  I'm sure it would be several times more than 40.

The number of 750 on the job market is also not a meaningful figure.  First
of all, it's hard to believe that one position drew that many -- for one
open position, my rejection letter said there were about 400 applicants --
which is plenty high as far as I'm concerned, but it's not 750.  There may
have been other positions that attracted such a number, for none I heard
of (in sociology).  Secondly, it is highly unlikely that literally everyone
on the job market applies for the same positions.  Even open positions will
not attract all job-seekers, as people avoid applying because they think
an open position is too much of a long-shot, they cannot or will not locate
to a certian part of the country, etc.  I don't know what
the correct number of junior people on the job market is -- I think it's
important to find out.  But you can't figure it out on the basis of who's
applying for one position.  The sociology job market is much more
fragmented than that.

Laura Miller
lmiller@ucsd.edu