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- Title
Toward Professional Civility: An Analysis of Rejection Letters from Sociology Departments.
- Authors
Shaw, Victor N.
- Abstract
I received 124 rejection letters from 124 sociology departments across the United States during my job search in 1996 and 1997. In this article, I analyze those rejection letters with regard to the messages they send to individuals and organizations. I argue: (a) that rejection letters constitute a unique form of mass media in contemporary life as they are sent and read massively by individuals and organizations; and (b) that they may socialize entering practitioners into a specific discourse of attitudes and behaviors, sustaining a particular tradition of collegiality, morality, and interpersonal relationships for an organization, discipline, and profession. On the basis of this analysis, I offer suggestions for positive change that will promote professional civility.
- Subjects
UNITED States; JOB hunting -- Social aspects; LETTERS; VOCATIONAL guidance; BEHAVIORAL scientists; SOCIOLOGISTS
- Publication
American Sociologist, 2000, Vol 31, Issue 1, p32
- ISSN
0003-1232
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s12108-000-1003-2