Occupational feminization, occupational decline? Sociology’s changing sex composition

Abstract

In recent years, research and popular wisdom have often linked the feminization of sociology with discussions of sociology's decline. In light of these concerns, this article examines recent data on the influx of women into sociology's graduate programs and academic positions, women’s position in the field, and the health of the field itself. The data show that women have made notable progress moving into academic sociology's recruitment pool, and lower level academic positions. As well, the gender gap in earnings has narrowed, real annual earnings continue to increase, and underemployment and underutilization continue to decline. All these are strong indicators that the field is on the upswing, and women's position in it improving. Despite these successes, gender boundaries remain in the sociological workplace. Women are not represented in the numbers one would expect in the tenured associate and full professor ranks, and all races have not benefited equally from the declining earnings gap. Intellectual boundaries also persist, as men and women often operate in different sociological spheres.