Editorial on Placement by the APSA Committee of Department ChairpersonsSource: PS, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Winter, 1976), pp. 6-7Published by: American Political Science AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/418381 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 08:00

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

American Political Science Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toPS.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 08:00:18 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Editorial on Placement by the APSA Committee of Department Chairpersons

There is a harsh reality in our profession that many of us have refused to face. For the last five years we have been presented with evidence of a severe imbalance of supply and demand for political science Ph.D.'s. The pages of PS have been filled with detailed descriptions of the present market as well as projections of what will be upon us in the next ten years. The placement difficulties of the 1970's will be- come substantially more severe in the 1980's. The personal tragedies that inevitably accom- pany such aggregate disorders are already visi- ble. One-third of all new degree holders are caught on the temporary appointment treadmill in which most energies are expended on secur-

ing next year's job and little on scholarly pursuits. Many political scientists experience disappointment and frustration at the inadequa-

cy of their graduate training for the challenges of teaching in small or limited mission institu- tions. Others find neither their training nor

faculty experience very helpful in securing new

employment outside academia when terminated

by faculty reductions or restrictive tenure

policies.

It would be presumptuous of us to attempt easy answers to a problem that is vexing to the entire academic community and which goes well beyond the capacity of one discipline to resolve. Nonetheless, we would like to share our thoughts on this important subject in hopes of generating more responsible discussion and poli- cies within our profession.

First and most critical, the number of admis- sions to doctoral programs must be reduced. Following a substantial decline in admissions between 1969 and 1973, it now appears the number is edging up again. We are well aware of the multitude of departmental reasons for maintaining high graduate enrollments, includ- ing the important goal of initiating and contin- uing affirmative action programs. Consequent- ly, our recommendation is modest: in determin- ing the number of admissions departments should give a primary place in their calculations to the size of the particular market in which their own Ph.D.'s are likely to be placed.

Secondly, applicants and incoming graduate students ought to be fully apprised of the market situation so they have an opportunity to make informed decisions about their gradu- ate training.

Thirdly, departments must begin to make seri- ous efforts to develop professionally related nonacademic employment opportunities for their students. It is not enough merely to make last minute efforts to find slots for those unable

to secure faculty positions. The system of values and norms held by faculty and transmit- ted to students must undergo some changes. The graduate curriculum must be altered to

provide students with the option of acquiring skills and knowledge appropriate for nonaca- demic employment. Graduate students ought to be advised how one looks for a job in public agencies and private corporations. A rational search requires a sophisticated view of these worlds that often is not held by political science graduate students. And of course de-

partments must make available resources to build their own nonacademic placement capaci- ties. Here we are thinking of rosters of faculty contacts and alumni in government and indus-

try; detailed descriptions of agencies and pro- grams performing tasks relevant to political science; and special personnel who continu-

ously develop career materials and contacts.

Our final comments are addressed to the

problems associated with maintenance of stable faculties in an era of no growth and to the need to continue to attract bright young women and men to our discipline. Departments and institu- tions tend to grow stale unless there are regular transfusions of intellectual vigor. Such transfu- sions are derived from the attraction of creative

young colleagues and the retraining and updat- ing of older colleagues. We must devise tech-

niques to attract our share of new talent as we

"tighten our belts." In addition, we should

encourage older faculty to participate in profes- sional development activities, including ex-

changes with practitioners from the private and

public sectors.

Committee of Department Chairpersons

Robert S. Friedman, Chairperson Pennsylvania State University

George S. Blair Claremont Graduate School

Davis B. Bobrow University of Maryland

C. Vernon Gray Morgan State College

Evelyn Harris Morris Harvey College

Robert J. Huckshorn Florida Atlantic University

Harold Jacobson University of Michigan

Stanley Z. Mazer Community College of Baltimore

6 PS Winter 1976

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 08:00:18 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Charles McCall Randall Ripley California State College-Bakersfield Ohio State University David Olson Thomas D. Ungs University of North Carolina-Greensboro University of Tennessee-Knoxville

FULL AND FAST REFERENCE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE ?

TRULY INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE ?

IPSA TRIES HARD I

Do you have easy access to the hundreds of journals which

publish articles in political science, public administration and inter- national relations all over the world? At a time when many libraries must take a close look at their budgets, can you and your students dispense with the ever fuller and faster services provided by INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SCIENCE ABSTRACTS?

A non-commercial journal published by the International Political Science Association itself, the Abstracts provides summaries of articles in both specialized and non-specialized journals, including major yearbooks. Articles in English are abstracted in English; articles in other languages (approximately 30 %/) are abstracted in French. From 1450 abstracts in 1968 the progress has been to over 5000 abstracts in 1975. Each issue carries a detailed subject index and a list of the periodicals examined; the final issue of each annual volume contains a cumulative subject index and an author index. Back volumes are available.

Your own Library should have a full set of the Abstracts. The institutional subscription for 1975 or 1976 costs French Francs 300 (approximately $ 70, ? st. 32). Individuals may subscribe at a reduced rate of F.F. 100 (approximately $ 24, ? 11).

INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SCIENCE ABSTRACTS

27, RUE SAINT-GUILLAUME, 75007 PARIS, FRANCE

I I __ _ _ __ 1

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 08:00:18 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions