What Can You Do With a Phd in Sociology

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This is Part I of a two-role serial on the basics of a [sociology] PhD. Part II is titled "so they'll pay me to get a phd?" and handles the monetary logistics.

A PhD ain't for everybody, not because of intelligence, only because it requires a whole lot.

Dedicating at least five years of your life to getting an advanced degree that does not guarantee employment is a choice not all of the states — or those who rely on us — tin can afford to make. Alternatively, a PhD tin can provide some of united states of america 5 years of job stability for the first time. Either fashion, finding data on the process as someone with further proximity to power — whether it be due to race, gender, grade, disability, citizenship, language, nationality, or something else — can experience really aggravating. Almost everything I learned out almost the "hidden curriculum" of graduate schoolhouse came from word-of-rima oris and, somewhen, personal experience.

This U.Southward.-based FAQ of sorts is my try to brand the procedure a bit less scary. And although I am writing almost my PhD program in folklore, much of the information can translate across academic departments. I've included links if you want to learn more nigh a item topic.

relevant information about the author

My name is Anthony James Williams, I utilise they/them/theirs pronouns, and I'yard in my thirties. At the time of publication I am a third year PhD student in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. I started community college as a commencement-generation college student in 2007, transferred to the University of California, Berkeley in 2013, became a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow in 2014, and graduated with my Bachelor's Degree in Sociology, Theatre, and Performance Studies in 2016. I and then applied to 13 folklore programs, got into eight, and began at UCLA in 2017–18 school yr.

I have also worked as a mentor to undergraduate students in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, and this year I begin the National Science Foundation Graduate Student Enquiry Fellowship Program. I am not an admissions officer, I'thousand simply a Black queer graduate student trying to assist folks feel prepared. The examples I give throughout are real and come from my experiences. Y'all can acquire more than almost me and my graduate school work on my website.

phd what?

"Earning" a PhD makes you lot a doctor of philosophy, and while that "doctor" bit may be obvious to some: I did not know there were non-medical doctors until I was in my early twenties. I knew that my instructors had a caste, I just didn't know whichdegree. For the record, college instructors must usually possess a master's degree or higher to get hired as lecturers or adjunct professors. Simply to get an assistant professor, an acquaintance professor, or a total professor at a four-year university or graduate-only university? You lot gotta go that PhD. Hither is how it works.

Later on y'all attain your high school diploma or general education diploma (GED), you can keep information technology going with trade schoolhouse certifications, your associates, your bachelor'due south, your master'south (MSW, MBA, MFA, MPH, MPP, MIIL, MA, MS, etc.), an fifty-fifty higher caste (PhD, EdD, Physician, Exercise, JD), something else entirely, or none of them. Some degrees, like the PhD, the juris doctor (JD) the main's in social work (MSW) are terminal, significant terminate of the line. You get that degree and you should be set within your chosen career path.

Case: I have my high school diploma, my BA, and now my MA. As a PhD student in sociology my typical workday — because it is a task — is some mixture of reading, writing, and education.

phd who?

Less than two% of the U.S. population possess a PhD. Due to a history of structural racism, sexism, ableism, and other forms of structural and interpersonal exclusion: most of those people who do have a PhD are white men. And of those PhD-recipients, about half go into higher education with the goal of a tenure-track position, which essentially translates to "job security." But many people choose to non become into academia for very valid reasons.

And just like the departments are ranked, everything within the school is hierarchical. In social club of least to most access to power and influence: undergrads, Principal's students, Primary's/PhD students, PhD candidates*, lecturers/adjuncts, assistant professors, and total professors. I won't get into department chairs or deans, only merely know that everyone has a boss.

*A PhD candidate is someone who is "ABD," or "all but dissertation." This ways they have completed all coursework, all MA requirements, all qualifying and/or comprehensive exams, and a successful dissertation prospectus proposal. In essence, all they have left to practise is practise the dissertation, defend their work, then they'll get their PhD. This is why we frequently brand a distinction between "PhD student" and "PhD candidate." One is 'merely' a pupil, the other is eligible for a PhD.

Simply if nothing else, delight notice that lecturers and adjuncts often teach large classes merely do not receive the same benefits as professors, including any real grade of chore security. Some folks willingly become adjuncts while they are in their PhD program, but many folks are pushed into lecturer positions considering there are only then many academic jobs equally professors. Some universities will hire "continuing lecturers" or "senior lecturers" who then receive dissimilar benefits, but this practice is less common than the per-course manner.Most universities exercise not allow them to vote on new hires, departmental changes, or graduate student admissions. They do non accept the same, if any, healthcare because they are treated as contractors. And they often have to offshoot at more than 1 university in order to brand enough money.

Instance: I am i of ii Black graduate students in my cohort of 13 students, the accomplice above me had zilch Black students, and the cohort below me had three.

phd why?

People often enter a PhD in folklore to research — whether for the academy, the public sector, or the private sector — and teach. Only STEM and social science PhD program train yous on conducting research, not teaching, which is why at that place are so many amazing researchers who are not the best trained or most kind educators. This stardom is important.

While most college professor jobs come with pedagogy responsibilities, about professors at Inquiry I institutions — this is what people mean when they say "R1" — like UC Berkeley de-prioritize instruction. Exterior of their personal feelings about pedagogy, professors at superlative universities take to worry virtually getting published, securing grants, and doing service work in guild to go tenure. In contrast, liberal arts schools like Pitzer allow space for the professor to teach and research, meaning that education and mentoring become a vital function of existence a professor.

Example: I chose a PhD to be able to teach, research, and mentor, but I recognize(d) that my training would specifically be near enquiry.

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phd how?

The good news: You do not have to have earned a Principal'due south degree to enroll in a PhD plan because many programs include a Primary's caste along the way. And with the correct criteria, you can get in direct from undergrad.

The bad news: Academia is elitist and conservative as hell and so that means that in addition to the straight up racism, classism, and sexism, you're also dealing with rank and legacy. So although a pupil can enter a PhD program with but their Bachelor's caste, not every pupil can.

Example: My sociology PhD programme at UCLA includes a Principal'south degree. I entered with merely my BA and earned my Master's in June 2022 after 2 years in the PhD programme.

GPA Requirements

Some students had to work and parent equally undergraduates, which means they might have focused more than on graduating and paying rent than their grades. The reality is that departmental requirements often get-go at 3.0, but acme-ranked programs are really looking for ~3.v and in a higher place.

Instance: I had a 3.9 when I applied.

GRE Scores

Not actually a strong indicator of how well someone will do in graduate school, as research tells us. And there is a long history of racism, classism, and profit backside standardized tests, withal they are still required and some schools use these as a baseline for admissions.

Prep courses are expensive as hell and I don't recommend them unless you tin can become them paid for. Instead, I recommend using the free version of Magoosh 6 to eight weeks before you take the exam. Also take lots of practice tests, some of which are available for free from ETS themselves. And remember that the GRE is about checking your knowledge near the test, not checking the knowledge you lot learned during undergrad. And so you will probable get like scores whether you take information technology your junior year, your senior yr, or years later because it isn't based on that knowledge. Don't let the GRE dissuade y'all from applying.

Case: I used my Mellon Mays funds to take a GRE prep class and ended up doing well on writing (99th percentile), well on verbal (82nd percentile), and poorly on math (51st percentile). And equally a sociology student I did not accept to accept any field of study tests.

Statements of Bookish Purpose

These are different from the essays that got some of usa into undergrad in that they are much more focused on your academics. A way to "get to know y'all," merely ultimately you lot need to use your personal story in service of your inquiry and scholarly trajectory. I suggest following Dr. Eve L. Ewing'due south communication on how to write a personal argument for graduate schoolhouse. This is where y'all can sometimes make upward for gaps in pedagogy, thin CVs, and more. Just do note that some schools will ask for a second, more than personal argument or a "diversity statement." You lot can share more of your personal story there, but keep in mind that.

Instance: I'one thousand a proponent of not pimping out our trauma, then I opened these statements with a paragraph about relevant personal information related to my enquiry journey.

Writing Samples

Let them know that y'all have conducted enquiry before and can write it up. But if you haven't conducted enquiry, grab a really practiced last newspaper from a class and polish it upward.

Example: I took the excerpts from l-page honors thesis that demonstrated I could design and complete a research project. So information technology looked like a bit of literature review, a brusk department on methods, lots of analysis, and some findings.

Letters of Recommendation

What is in the letters and who writes the letters are both important. The messages should speak to your potential as an academic through discussing you as a student, research assistant, or another similar role. To make their job easier you take to tell them well in advance (2 months or more), remind them every bit the deadlines come up, send them your materials (statements, cv, writing sample, previous graded work from their grade), and feel costless to ask them to highlight certain things.

Students often enquire me nigh which professors to enquire, and I've been told that while they should all be from professors — as opposed to people similar bosses, grad students, or faith leaders —from your academic discipline,  their ranking really depends on where yous are applying. Ideally they are tenured professors from your current school or the schoolhouse you graduated from, simply it can get tricky.

Say you lot need iii letters and ii are from tenured professors: if your community college lecturer will write a really fantastic letter and so you may want to include them over a big-shot tenured professor who knows nothing about yous or your work other than that you received an 'A' in their grade.

Example: For most schools, I went with a junior kinesthesia member in my subject field, a senior kinesthesia member in my discipline, a senior faculty member exterior my discipline, and the continuing lecturer who oversaw my thesis project. When I could just select 3 I would usually utilize the commencement iii, but when I could select up to five I would include them all.

CV

Your curriculum vitae, or your academic resume, lists your accomplishments. My best advice is to recognize that you won't have much to list and that is okay. Then lookup the CVs of people you adore to encounter how they formatted them and what they listed.

Instance: I had published a lot in popular printing but not academically, so I highlighted the relevant popular press work, included all of my public service at the university, and included grants I had won from community college.

phd when?

You're the merely i who will know if yous want to enter a PhD program and if you're ready. What I unremarkably advise people to do is talk to graduate student friends, and if they don't have whatsoever, read things like the Survey of Doctoral Education. Grad schoolhouse ain't going nowhere, and information technology tin can accept much more than v years, so taking time with your decision is key.

Example: I hope to consummate my PhD in v years, but my anecdotal observations seem to suggest that information technology takes sociology PhD students effectually seven years to cease. But fifty-fifty if I'm done with my dissertation in five years, I may want to get out another publication earlier going on the job market. Life happens (death, nascence, health, marriage, divorce, money issues, etc) and you are working on your ain timeline.

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phd where?

In brusque, go where they requite you the money, the resource, two to four professors you can see yourself working with, and the professional person support necessary to go you a job one time you're done. Here is a breakup of what to consider and why.

Section Rank

First, a school can have a cute reputation, but not all departments inside that school are ranked equally. And so pay attention to the department more than than the school's name and reputation.

2nd, ranking unfortunately determines potential stipends, chances to earn external fellowships and grants, and job prospects. A mediocre individual tin can get into a top-ranked institution and rely on their big proper name amalgamation to get them a job at a similarly top-ranked university. A extremely innovate and well-trained individual can get into a lower-ranked establishment simply they exercise not take the same resources and are more than probable to discover a chore at a similarly low-ranked university. It should not exist all about ranking because you could end up at a highly-ranked school and hate your life, only do make sure to consider it.

Example: UCLA was top 10 for folklore at the time that I practical, as were my other ii choices (University of Michigan and Harvard). But UMD was top 50 for sociology at the fourth dimension that I applied and had Dr. Patricia Hill Collins not been retiring so that faculty human relationship might have trumped department rank for me.

Department Fit

Yous have to go to a school with at least ii professors with whom yous'd desire to work, just ideally three or four. Yous go to graduate school to do your ain piece of work under the advising of specific professors. The issue with just ii professors of involvement is that they switch jobs, your research interests change, you accept less alphabetic character-writers, or something else entirely.

And more than more often than not, you find out if you'd like to work with them by visiting their faculty pages and/or personal websites. Await at what they've published nigh in the concluding 10 years, see if your research interests align, see if your methodologies marshal, and when you visit the school after getting admitted: run across if you lot think you tin become along with them. Ask them how many graduate students they accept on at a time to get an thought of how much fourth dimension you'll take together. Inquire them what their advising mode is and what they expect out of their students. Yous piece of work closely with your advisor, so find out what y'all demand to know.

Merely it is not only the professors, it is so much more. Is information technology a closed-door or an open-door type of department? Are there professors in other departments at the schoolhouse that you'd like to work with? How big is your accomplice? Practise you get forth with your cohort? What courses are offered? Do they teach the methodologies you'd like to learn? How much are y'all expected to teach? What are the departmental requirements to earn your MA/PhD?

Example: In the concluding two years the iii people I would have like to worked with — if I accustomed Columbia's offer — have all left to The Graduate Middle, CUNY. I could non have predicted that, simply had I gone at that place I would have had to discover a new advisor during my third year of graduate school. I ultimately chose UCLA for my two advisors who I felt would help me create the work I wanted to create even though they did not specialize in what I hoped to work on.

Geographic Location

This encompasses a lot of things. Some of these questions may seem silly or obvious, only not every university is built virtually the specific things you may demand. What are the population demographics? Is at that place a customs there of folks who speak your linguistic communication(southward)? Is it a pocket-sized boondocks, a college town, a big metropolis, or something else? How much does it actually cost to live there? How far will you lot be from your friends, family, and partners and how much will information technology cost for you to see each other? What other schools and potential resource surround the area? What is the political climate? What is the weather similar? Is there a nightlife? What does dating look like for you lot? How accessible is it? What does the area feel like?

Example: Wisconsin Folklore is a top 10 plan that I got into and would have gladly attended if information technology was the best choice for me out of those that offered me admission. Simply I dislike the cold and I like existence shut to Blackness and brownish people, then I chose a city I dislike (Los Angeles) and so that I could be warm and around more Black and brown folk. I also had loved ones living in California and I would be lying if I said that didn't touch my conclusion.

Wellness

Your wellness is so of import. Graduate students have notoriously bad mental health outcomes that are particularly heinous for those of u.s. with marginalized identities. And so this is about much more than if the campus offers a graduate educatee gym. Brand sure that whichever programme you select provides you with resources for your spiritual, mental, physical, sexual, and emotional wellness. You come first, don't let the PhD steal y'all from you.

Instance: I accept advantage of my dental/vision/wellness insurance plans, I use the STI testing services on campus, and I endeavor to go to acupuncture regularly.

Image courtesy the writer (me!), photographed past Jenny Baquing.

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So at present you know a lot more than than I knew nearly the PhD procedure as I practical. Simply tin you survive on what they're paying you? Part Ii of this two-part series, "so they'll pay me to go a phd?" explores just that. If you lot've read both, feel free to visit "AMA: PhD edition," the public thread where you can ask me anything about this whole process.

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Source: https://anthoknees.substack.com/p/how-does-a-sociology-phd-work

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