Showing papers in "Sociology Of Education in 1969"

Patterns of Mobility of New Ph.D.'s among American Academic Institutions.

Abstract: Patterns of mobilty from doctoral institutions to first academic appointments are analyzed for a sample of 682 scholars who obtained doctorates in 1957. Mobility within and between general geographic regions and prestige levels of institutions is examined as a means of testing previous hypotheses about the structure of the academic stratification system. Mobility within prestige levels is found to be not as pervasive as suggested by earlier investigators, with tendencies toward inbreeding by individual institutions and intra-regional mobility being somewhat stronger. Some implications of these results for notions of disciplinary "schools" and interregional cultural differences are suggested.

Power and Autonomy in Teacher Socialization.

Abstract: A theory of occupational socialization was developed and tested with a sample of teachers and school administrators. Socialization within an organizational setting is presented as a "power" process in which the "significant other" is the person having the greatest ability to control organizational sanctions. This power process is modified by the relative "Resources" of the organizational neophyte and by the degree of "Affect" between the neophyte and his "significant other." The theory received partial support from the data and the findings throw light on the nature of professional autonomy and on the process of occupational socialization.

Studying the Impacts of Colleges on Students

Abstract: This paper attempts a broad overview of the research on college impacts by outlining the ways in which such research has been done, pointing out the theoretical orientations and analytic strategies underlying these studies, and highlighting some of the concomitant methodological problems and research issues. Difficulties related to the conceptualization and measurement of "impact" are discussed first. Following is an analysis of the various orientations used in predicting the nature and direction of impacts: actuarial; avowed goals and functions of higher education; personality development; life-cycle movement within the general social system; distinctive social organizational structures and pressures. Ways of measuring college environments and inferring their impacts are presented. Finally, some suggestions are offered for the kinds of future research that would be of particular benefit to the field.

Social Class Origin and Academic Success: The Influence of Two Stratification Systems on Academic Careers.

Abstract: Although a prestigeful occupation may be relatively open to lower class recruits, success may not be equally available to all, regardless of social class origin. Using the academic profession as an example of a prestigeful occupation, a secondary analysis of samples of university professors and recent recipients of doctorates in the arts and sciences and in several professional fields reveals that social class origin is related to academic success, defined as holding positions at top-ranking universities. This effect is due in part to the fact that lower class respondents are more likely to have received degrees from low-ranking universities from which the staff of high-ranking universities is less likely in general to be recruited. However, lower class recipients of the doctorate with Ph.D.s from major universities are also less likely than their middle class counterparts to obtain positions in major universities. The role of public universities is shown to have a democratizing effect upon these relationships.

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Relationship between High School Student Values, Social Participation, and Educational-Occupational Achievement.

Abstract: A longitudinal study was made of student values and social participation at the time of high school graduation and five years later. The findings indicate: (1) the values held in high school change radically by early adulthood, (2) students with value orientations that stress participation in activities and athletics participate more in school activities and organizations than do students with an academic value orientation, (3) high school values show no significant relationship to future educational and occupational achievement, and (4) social participation in high school is positively correlated with educational and occupational achievement.

The Impact of Peer Interaction During an Academic Role Transition.

Abstract: This study examines the impact of peer interaction among a group of graduate students taking Ph.D. qualifying examinations at M.I.T. As predicted, there was a positive correlation between peer interaction and examination performance, but this correlation varied across departments and achievement levels. Peer interaction was most strongly related to performance in a small department with a moderate impetus toward interaction. The interaction-performance link was strong for students with low and moderate cumulative averages but not for students with high cumulative averages; at the high "cum" level, the student's confidence was the best predictor of performance. These findings and other socialization research suggested a number of relevant factors which may moderate the link between peer interaction and performance in a career socialization process: (1) characteristics of the situation, (2) characteristics of the interaction, and (3) characteristics of the individual. The conclusions are that there is no unitary, constant relationship between these variables and that the task of socialization research is to further specify the conditions under which the interaction aids or hinders the performance of the recruit.

Alienation and Social Learning: A Study of Students in a Vocational Training Center

Abstract: Persons in a vocational training center for the unemployed were the subjects of a study of alienation and social learning. The study related measures of meaninglessness, normlessness, social isolation, and powerlessness to control-relevant information about both the immediate training center and also future employment opportunities. The results supported the proposition that high alienation, in each of its major forms, is associated with low degrees of control-relevant knowledge at both the micro and the macro levels. Furthermore, data obtained from cumulative scaling of the alienation variables indicated an accentuation of the learning differentials.

Determinants of Faculty Support for Student Demonstrations

Abstract: In the spring of 1968, education at Columbia University was disrupted by a massive student sit-in and strike. This paper presents data on how faculty support was influenced by non-professional statuses, which guided the development of faculty opinion as the crisis progressed. Religion, political affiliation, father's occupation, age and sex were all correlated with attitudinal support of the demonstration. The effect of the first three of these non-professional statuses was substantially reduced when we controlled for general political orientation. We conclude that a faculty member's attitude toward student demonstrations is more influenced by his experience before entrance to the profession than by experience after entrance. Nonprofessional statuses tend to be important in influencing behavior on professional issues for which there is little precedence. Conversion of attitudinal into behavioral support was largely dependent on the attitudes of one's faculty colleagues and students in the professor's department and university division. In the absence of social support, less than half of the faculty members acted in accord with their own attitudinal predisposition. STUDENT PROTESTS, STRIKES, and demonstrations rapidly are becoming a "normal" part of life on college campuses. Although there has been some research on why students become involved in this type of political activity, there has been little or no investigation of the reaction of faculty members to these student demonstrations. The success or failure of these demonstrations and the extent to which they disrupt academic life often depend upon the degree of faculty support they receive. Therefore, the determinants of faculty support form an important area of inquiry. In what ways do faculty members who support demonstrations differ from those of their colleagues who oppose demonstrations? Under what conditions will favorable attitudes toward demonstrations be converted into active support? The study of faculty reaction to student demonstrations is relevant for a more general sociological problem: under what conditions will the attitudes

Some Factors in Obtaining Postgraduate Education.

Abstract: Present trends in American society indicate an increasing need for persons with graduate and professional degrees. This study examines the roles of sex, time of marriage, socioeconomic status background, and academic ability in determining who intends and who obtains postgraduate education. Data were obtained from a longitudinal study of a representative sample of undergraduates from a major university. Men were found to be more likely than women to obtain graduate or professional education. For men, high academic ability was the primary factor in determining who obtained postgraduate education; for women, a late marriage, low socioeconomic status and high ability were about equally associated with obtaining postgraduate education. Both college women and low status college men were relatively unable to anticipate their eventual educational attainments.

The Predictive Value of Marijuana Use: A Note to Researchers of Student Culture

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the relative predictive value of data on marijuana use, student types, and more conventional background traits on a number of dependent variables of interest to researchers of student culture. Data on 344 college students (62 percent of whom have smoked marijuana) indicate that drug use is a sensitive independent variable which may prove fruitful in much needed educational research on an important subcultural student movement.

Public Reactions to College Student Protests

Abstract: In a sample of the U. S. population interviewed just prior to the disturbances at Columbia University in 1968, educational attainment and race were strongly correlated with attitudes toward college student protests. Negroes were more favorable to protests than were whites; respondents with more education were more favorable than those with less. Among the better educated in each race, the younger were much more favorable to protests than the older. The relation of age and support for protests was weaker among persons with limited education. Among whites who had attended college, liberals were more likely to support protests than were conservatives.

Sponsored and Contest Mobility Among College Graduates: Measurement of the Relative Openness of a Social Structure.

Abstract: This study is concerned with determining the significance of achievement and ascriptive factors in the career mobility of graduate engineers. Difficulties regarding the measurement of relative "openness" of a social structure are pointed out; an attempt is made to overcome some of these difficulties by operationalizing Turner's ideal type notions of "sponsored" and "contest" mobility in the form of multivariate mobility channels. The findings offer support for both models, revealing the increasing effects of achievement variables such as grades, school selectivity, and recruitment emphasis on college achievement while at the same time showing the continuing effects of social origins and college prestige on such "contest" mobility. Examination of the most recent graduates points to the continuing influence of ascriptive criteria and to the declining effect of schoolorganizational variables. It is suggested that such findings may support the notion of a developing "credential" or "status" opportunity structure.

A Social System Analysis of Preferred Leadership Role Characteristics in High School.

Abstract: A study of a school system was undertaken to replicate, partially, Coleman's research and critically evaluate the subcultural model he used. Using Parsons' distinction between instrumental and integrative roles, students chose desired characteristics of leaders for each type of school role. The characteristics were divided into instrumental and integrative; the hypothesis being that each type of characteristic would be selected for the appropriate type of role. Findings indicate that, contrary to Coleman, students selected instrumental characteristics for both instrumental and integrative roles. These findings raise doubts about the utility of the subcultural model for understanding adolescent roles and social organization.

The Effect of University Experience on Occupational Choice among Undergraduates.

Abstract: This study of male students of the graduating class of 1965 in a selective university shows that occupational choices undergo considerable change during the undergradute years. Although gross overall changes in the occupational profile of the class are not large, many students are discouraged from pursuing careers which require extensive academic training when they receive low grades, even though all who are admitted appear to be capable of entering such careers. Students initially selecting engineering as a career defect in large numbers-20 percent planning careers in the field at the outset, and only seven percent at graduation. On the other hand, only seven percent of entering students initially plan business careers, while 21 percent graduate with plans to enter business.