Title

Declining Enrollments Of Sociology Majors: Department Responses

Abstract

Although the number of social science majors is purported to have slightly increased since 1988, in the period immediately prior to that year the figure was declining. Sociology was one of the disciplines to experience this decline. The possible reasons for the reduction include the quality of the subject matter presentation, an increase in career-oriented students, and the loss of those students now majoring in social work and criminal justice who might otherwise have majored in sociology. University administrations facing reduction decisions in the coming years are not likely to look favorably on sociology departments unless those units can position themselves more favorably. Undergraduate sociology departments need to examine ways to strengthen their political positions on campus, such as developing service courses and cooperative arrangements with other programs; generating activities that are associated with public constituencies; and most important of all, learning to do something that university administrations need and perceive to be essential, and therefore are likely to protect. © 1991 Transaction Publishers.

Publication Date

3-1-1991

Publication Title

The American Sociologist

Volume

22

Issue

1

Number of Pages

25-36

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02691865

Socpus ID

0041014050 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0041014050

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