Status: Upcoming

Sociology has recently found itself lumped in with a group of subjects on the STEM periphery or in the humanities that stand accused of not offering undergradaute students adequate career preparation and skills — leading to questions about whether universities, families, and students should invest in them. This is despite the fact that Sociology’s curriculum develops the combination of analytical skills and interpersonal understandings that employers, including in technologically intensive fields, praise as ideal for their potential employees.

This talk will describe the development and pilot implementation of the Sociology Pathway and Career Exploration Resource (SPACER) – a tool that helps undergraduate Sociology students at UT-Austin more effectively link their courses of study to their career pathways. Funded by the National Science Foundation and developed in collabroation with campus Career Services experts, SPACER (a working title) runs alongside a semester-long Sociology course through course management software. After onboarding specific to their class year, students have access to 15 modules including Marketing Your Sociology Degree, Transferable Skills, and Networking and Informational Interviews; links to existing campus resources for those pursuing graduate, medical, or law school that have been scaffolded with additional material specific to Sociology students; and receive weekly announcements from Career Services targeted to Sociology students. Pilot implementation and informal and formal assessment occurred in a Research Methods course enrolling approximately 20 students, mostly juniors and seniors. In the future, we will test the tool in courses of varying sizes and develop a version for dissemination to other colleges and universities.

The National Educational Equity Lab has partnered with more than 20 Selective colleges and universities, to provide college credit bearing course to students attending high poverty high schools that historically have had few students attend selective higher education institutions.  The goal of the effort, is to change opportunity structures by demonstrating to students who take the college courses, their teachers, counselors, and  school leaders, and higher education institutions, that significant numbers of students in Title I High Schools, can succeed in the college-level courses of selective schools.  Initial findings on course success, shifting enrollment patterns and early persistence in college for participating students will be shared.