108 - Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) Professional Workshop. Examining Stratification in Academic Career Trajectories for Minority Sociologists and Economists

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Abstract

This professional workshop is for sociologists at all stages of their careers that are interested in the pipeline for under-represented minority (URM) scholars in the social and behavioral sciences. The workshop will address the pipeline issue at two levels. First, it will address the careers of individual URM scholars at the experiential level. For example, workshop leaders want to ask participants “What kind of career do you want and do you expect? Have your mentors been helpful for your expected career trajectory? Do you feel marginalized in departments and networks? If so, what strategies do you use to overcome this perception? Have strategies worked to help you become more central? Second, the workshop will address the careers of URM scholars at the theoretical and methodological level and seek input from the workshop participants. The latest updates from the ASA’s multi-year National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research compare the career outcomes of participants in the ASA Minority Fellowship Program (now in its 40th anniversary year) with PhD recipients in sociology who did not participate. In addition, workshop leaders will discuss the potential impact of a new proposal to NSF comparing the academic career trajectories of URM sociologists and economists. A major purpose of the proposed research is to measure specific aspects of the stratification processes and outcomes that may create or re-create inequalities in URM academic career trajectories. The theoretical concepts to be made operational and tested include 1) human capital and social capital; 2) professional networks and marginality to those networks; 3) “two worlds” and the “color line” for racial and ethnic minorities; and 4) intersectionality by race, ethnicity, and gender. Attendees will be asked to provide feedback on the kinds of data, measures, and methodologies needed to effectively study academic career trajectories for URM scholars, and then discuss the impact of mentoring, professional networks, and the formation or improvement of intervention programs housed at associations, universities, foundations, and agencies.

Sub Unit

• Minority Fellowship Program Session

Session Organizers

• Jean H. Shin, American Sociological Association

• Beth Floyd, American Sociological Association

Co-Leaders

• Roberta M. Spalter-Roth, American Sociological Association

• Marie T. Mora, University of Texas-Pan American

• Jean H. Shin, American Sociological Association