Stanford Sociology vs. Stanford Sociology of Education through SHIPS

[SocInTheCity]

I have been compiling my application materials for some time, but recently learned that the Stanford program considers the School of Education to be a department rather than a separate school.

 

This is different than NYU, for example, where Soc of Ed is in Steinhardt and and Sociology is in the College of Arts and Sciences.

 

Now, I must decide between the two programs rather than applying for both.

 

I am specifically interested in both occupational and educational aspirations, so my instinct is to apply for the straight Sociology department, but I am torn.

 

Is anyone deciding between these two programs?  Or can any current students speak to the differences/strengths between these two departments?

 

Many thanks!

[AaronM]

You can't really go wrong with either (it's Stanford), but look at faculty CVs and see which department has more people that line up with your research interests. If they're about equal, I would probably lean toward the sociology department because having a more general degree will help your job prospects and I'm sure you'll be able to take classes the other department so you won't be missing out on a whole lot. If you can, try to get in contact with a current student via email and see what they think about the connection between the two departments, departmental culture, and the benefits of being in one versus the other.

[jacib]

When I was applying to PhD programs and considering both religious studies departments and sociology departments, the advice I got was a "even if you wrote the exact same thesis, a sociology department will only hire someone from a sociology, but a religion department will hire someone from a religion department or a disciplinary department."  I don't think this is as strongly true in your case, but at my undergraduate school I saw that the students in the anthropology of religion program through the divinity school had worse academic job outcomes than the people in the department's anthropology department.  Likewise, my current university's sociology department has very little connection with our sociology of ed program which is housed in a different school.  However, his isn't the case across the board, as we're quite close with the sociology of medicine people who are affiliated with the medical school.  If you make connections with faculty in both places, it probably doesn't matter that much, but I would assume that the sociology department, in general, if there is a significant difference, has better resources for PhD students and is more prestigious for academic jobs (but may possibly have fewer connections with non-academic jobs).  I rarely advocate this, but you might want to go on Stanford's website, find their graduate students who study education, and email them to ask them what the deal is (in a short, polite email).

[amlobo]

I had the same decision to make last year, and I ultimately decided to apply to their straight Sociology program instead of SHIPS.  I will echo what Aaron and jacib have said above and say that part of it was that I was afraid of the marketability of a more specialized degree within academia.  Another part was that I felt my interests didn't fit squarely enough in the Soc of Ed program, and Sociology gave me a bit more freedom.  I ultimately did not get in to Stanford, but in my current program, I am in the Sociology department and have already started developing relationships with Education professors who are in my workgroup, and quite a few Sociology students have advisors who are Education professors.  I also will say I agree with jacib that in this case, contacting a current student might be a good idea.  I'd pick a Sociology student who studies education and ask them about the difference between the programs; I think they will probably be straight with you about it.  Good luck!

[gilbertrollins]

Like has been said above, applying to interdisciplinary specialty programs requires more foresight on the part of the applicant, because they are connected to very particular faculty networks and journals.  One can start from a generalist main-line program like sociology or economics and branch out into a specialty from there, potentially ending up in a policy school or specialized school of education as one develops one's own research network during the dissertation.  The reverse is not generally true.

[SocInTheCity]

After reading these comments, speaking with some faculty members, and reflecting on my goals, I do think that the Sociology program will allow me to explore my sociological interests outside of education and ultimately make me more marketable upon graduation. Thanks for the advice and input from all.