Sociology of Higher Education: Contributions and Their Contexts
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 Educationaffords 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)The book is outstanding in two respects: it presents a comprehensive state of the field, and it explores the role of sociological research in guiding higher education practice... Summing Up: Essential.(Choice)Unique in its genre... provides an analytical survey of the work accomplished in the sociology of higher education since the inception of this subfield, as well as suggesting directions for future research.(Anne Friederike DelouisReflecting Education)