Career Preparation and the Political Science Major
Evidence from Departments
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6099100 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Todd A Collins (Western Carolina University), H Gibbs Knotts (Western Carolina University), Jen Schiff, Jennifer S Schiff (0000-0001-7960-4138, Western Carolina University) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 87-92 |
| Publication date | 2012-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | PS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1049096511001764 |
| OpenAlex | W2029716403 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 16 |
We know little about the amount of career preparation offered to students in political science departments. This lack of information is particularly troubling given the state of the current job market and the growth of applied degree programs on university campuses. To address this issue, this article presents the results of a December 2010 survey of 279 political science department chairs that asked questions about the level of career preparation in their respective departments. Based on our empirical findings, we believe that political science departments are not doing enough to address their students' career preparation. Our results demonstrate that most departments rely on voluntary internships and faculty advisers to address career-related issues for political science majors. Only a few departments use required internships, required resumes, specific classes related to career preparation, and social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn to support career preparation. We also found substantial differences in career preparation across department type (BA, MA, and PhD) and between public and private universities, urban and rural universities, and universities with different average SAT scores. Our findings should interest faculty and administrators who are concerned with different approaches to career preparation on college campuses
Internship · Job market · Medical education · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Evaluation of Teaching Practices · Higher Education Research Studies · Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences · Medicine · Psychology
Two sides of the same coin
The Unseen Scars of Experiential Learning
Do Political Science Majors Succeed in the Labor Market
A Career-Oriented Approach to Structuring the Political Science Major
Strategies for Picking the Right Adviser
Response to “Empowering Contingent Faculty”
The Workplace Relevance of the Liberal Arts Political Science BA and How It Might Be Enhanced
Career Development and Progression of Early Career Academics in Political Science
Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Misspecified Models
Undergraduate Internships
Internships and the Sociological Perspective
Undergraduate Education in Sociology as Career Training
The Other Curriculum
The Last Laugh
Structure and Opportunity
Statistical Models for Political Science Event Counts
Examining the Impact of the Wahlke Report
Liberal Learning and the Political Science Major
Sequential or Flexible? The Impact of Differently Structured Political Science Majors on the Development of Student Reasoning
II. The Major in Political Science
A Century of Continuity and (Little) Change in the Undergraduate Political Science Curriculum
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,62 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2025 (13) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |