PRESTIGE OF SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENTS AND THE PLACING OF NEW PH.D.'S.

This study deals with the interplay between the hiring of new Ph.D. in sociology by different departments in American universities and the respective prestige of the hiring and the granting departments. Several studies in sociological literature deal with the prestige system of American graduate schools and with the ways schools seek out their prospective faculties. There seems to be general agreement that different departments have different appeals in securing their new faculty in placing their graduates in academic positions. This differential appeal depends basically on the prestige of the respective graduate departments, which is usually based on the perception of professionals of the The underlying assumption of the study is that, with the exception of a few new graduates who have already published extensively enough to establish a reputation in the field, the main basis for judging the potential of a new Ph.D. is the prestige of the department that granted his degree.