Structural Strain in Science: Organizational Context, Career Stage, and Disciplinary Differences

• In Event: 161 - Section on Organizations, Occupation and Work Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 18. Job Mobility and Labor Markets

Abstract

Analyzing the division of labor in society, Durkheim introduced the concept anomie to characterize conditions of societies in which a breakdown in order constrains individuals’ ability to realize their expectations. Sociologists have applied the theory of anomie to science, theorizing anomie in science as the absence of opportunities to achieve recognition, and offer competing hypotheses of conditions in which anomie in science is found, yet these predictions have neither been tested quantitatively nor compared across disciplines. Drawing on arguments that distinguish anomie and strain as related concepts, we assess the structural conditions that give rise to anomie using a subset of data from the Science in International Contexts study, a nationally-representative survey of physicists and biologists in the United Kingdom (N=673). The analysis provides strong support for Hermanowicz’s theory of anomie in science. Our findings provide new insights into conditions of work that would appear to cause dissatisfaction for academic careers and undermine the goal of advancing knowledge.

Authors

• David R. Johnson, Rice University

• Brandon Vaidyanathan, Rice University