Sociology of Higher Education

A welcome and useful contribution to the fields of sociology and education. It stands alone in its treatment of a number of important sociological dimensions that define what might be understood as an agenda for sociological inquiry in higher education. The editor has been truthful to her subject and has rightly recognized the challenges inherent in the development and promotion of such an endeavor. -- Scott Thomas, Institute for Higher Education, University of Georgia Patricia Gumport is to be lauded for her intellectual leadership in a creative and definitive account of the evolution of an important subfield of sociology. This work presents all the authority but none of the turgidity of a major handbook. -- Neil J. Smelser, University of California, Berkeley This volume intelligently links past and future. Burton Clark has played a central role in defining the contours of the sociology of higher education. This collection of essays honors and amplifies his legacy but goes beyond Clark's early insights to identify promising new lines of inquiry. -- W. Richard Scott, Stanford University Sociology of Higher Education affords a lofty vantage point from which to view the vibrant intersection of sociology and higher education. Patricia Gumport has assembled an impressive array of scholars. Their dozen chapters, taken together, update Burton Clark's pioneering survey of the field and provide timely, authoritative overviews of the field's component parts. -- Jack H. Schuster, Claremont Graduate University

Featuring extensive reviews of the literature, this volume will be invaluable for scholars and students of sociology and higher education.In this volume, Patricia Gumport and other leading scholars examine the sociology of higher education as it has evolved since the publication of Burton Clark's foundational article in 1973. They trace diverse conceptual and empirical developments along several major lines of specialization and analyze the ways in which wider societal and institutional changes in higher education have influenced this vital field of study. In her own chapters, Gumport identifies the factors that constrain or facilitate the field's development, including different intellectual legacies and professional contexts for faculty in sociology and in education. She also considers prospects for the future legitimacy and vitality of the field. Featuring extensive reviews of the literature, this volume will be invaluable for scholars and students of sociology and higher education.