Which subfield of Education is hotter?

[wannabeaphd]

Hi all,

So I wondered, what do you think is hot in education research right now? I'm asking this with an eye to what might be likley to land me a job in the future. I have several good options for entering PhD programs this year, but the areas are all a little different. I'm primarily interested in studying a specific subgroup of nontraditional students in higher ed, but I can come at it from MANY different directions.

My long term goals include being a prof and researcher, or possibly higher ed admin. I also want to make myself as marketable as possible since I have an academic spouse.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Fidelio]

I voted for ed policy, but it seems to me that economics is increasingly eclipsing psychology as the main way to understand issues in education. I'm kinda biased, since economics in education is my research interest, but when I did my undergrad, it was all psych all the time, and when I started looking at grad programs five years later, ed psych seemed to have sort of faded back a little bit.

[keepswimming]

i would also like to add that it's not just the subfield that matters most, but your research approach/method--the more quantitative, the more desirable. i don't totally agree with this, but my partner is currently a professor in the social sciences and this is definitely the case.

i also want to echo fidelio's sentiments as well that an economic perspective has taken over the way we view education. psychology has had it's ups and downs, sociology was once a respected way to understand education, and now econ. who knows what will be next...

in short, focus on what genuinely interests you and what you are good at, and do it well. the rest will follow

[wannabeaphd]

Thanks all.

I'm actually thinking about getting experience in econ. One of the programs has a great economist I could work with... so that could be an important factor.