Message-Id: <199710102155.PAA27718@csf.Colorado.EDU>
From: "Jack B. Monpas-Huber" <jam97003@uconnvm.uconn.edu>
To: socgrad@csf.colorado.edu
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 17:57:58 +0000
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Subject: Re: Opportunites for MA in Sociology?
Reply-to: jam97003@uconnvm.uconn.edu
> My department NEVER discusses non-academic possibilities.  Discussing
> getting an MA is taboo.  We are all expected to get our PhD's and
> move on to an academic position at one of the top ten Universities.
> Anything less is considered a failure.  I think this attitude is an
> extreme injustice to the graduate students and is completely ignorant
> of the job market.  With the recent postings to the grad list about
> the glut of graduate degrees in the market, you would think that grad
> programs would start becoming more open-minded about different
> job possibilities.  <sigh>  Good Luck!

Funny, I've noticed this too!

To be sure, I've taken time off between my degrees; I've always 
wanted to be an academic sociologist; I still have a few years before 
worrying about the job market (but do anyway); and I know that a 
good, well-connected mentor can make a huge difference.

But in my experiences at four Research 1 universities, sociologists 
have tended to be very oblivious to non-academic career options, with 
the harsh realities of the competitive job market, with how very 
vulnerable some grad students can often be.  In this respect, 
professors, who with their recommendations hold valuable keys 
to our future, have considerable power, which they can use in both 
good and bad ways.  In moments of frustration I've found their 
academic arrogance completely intolerable.

Given the hard work we do and the costs we incur by pursuing a 
graduate education, I've often wished that faculty would be more 
sensitive to our plight and take a more active role in helping us find jobs.  

But then again we make a choice to pursue sociology over more 
marketable careers, and in sociology we can choose between more or 
less marketable options, so I realize we can only hold faculty so 
responsible.   Still, the ethics of the situation are very 
complicated.  Blame is difficult to place, and there are no easy 
answers.

---------------------------------------------------
JACK B. MONPAS-HUBER
Doctoral Student, Dept. of Sociology
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269-2068
(860) 486-4423 or 486-4073
jam97003@uconnvm.uconn.edu