On social media, the amazing Michel Estefan at UC San Diego raised an excellent point about the sociology B.A. degree. According to recent data, it seems to a very California specific degree. Even when compared to its size, institutions of higher education in California give a disproportional number of sociology degrees and the same is true for New York state to a lesser extent. Dr. Estefan gave me permission to republish his comments and I post his tables at the bottom:
Sociology colleagues: I’d love your take on this data.
American sociology is, to a striking degree, Californian and public.
41% of all sociology bachelor’s degrees are produced in California. 16 of the top 20 institutions by degrees conferred are in CA — and every single one is a UC or CSU campus.
This raises questions I don’t think we’ve fully reckoned with: is this a story of vitality or vulnerability?
On one hand, California’s large Latino population, progressive academic culture, and (still substantive, if embattled) public university funding have created extraordinary conditions for sociology to flourish. These may be structural advantages that are difficult to replicate elsewhere.
On the other hand, a discipline this geographically concentrated is exposed to a single point of failure. A sustained defunding of the UC or CSU system wouldn’t just hurt California sociology, it would reshape the discipline at the national level.
And then there’s Florida: degrees that started at 735 in 1997, briefly grew, and now sit at 678 in 2024, below where they began, in a state that has grown enormously in population and in university enrollment.
What does this mean strategically? Are the conditions producing California’s dominance structural and largely out of our hands or is there something here worth learning from as we think about expanding sociology’s institutional footprint elsewhere?
Genuinely curious to get your take.
Dr. Estefan posted the following data:
A few comments from Estefan and myself:
Estefan wants people to know that this isn’t an artifact of population. California awards 12% of BA degrees but is giving 41% of sociology degrees.
This data shows how much sociology has eroded as an intellectual institution. It’s become geographically localized and not a degree broadly supported by students across the country.
Still, being popular in the big coastal cities is not a bad thing. These are the cities of finance, government, and culture.
Still, being big only in the coastal cities can be a bad thing. It plays into the idea that sociology is intellectual window dressing for progressives, and not a broad inquiry into social life that appeals to many people.
What do you think?
Bottom line: Sociology is a bunch of sanctuary cities!
++++++
Buy these books!
Sociology and Classical Liberalism (Open access/free)
Grad Skool Rulz - cheap ($5) advice manual for grad students
Obama and the antiwar movement
When every child is told from kindergarten that they need to be "college and career ready," every kid thinks that they must go to college....and parents help perpetuate this madness. Most kids don't even know who they are and can't even think about what to do with their life for a career at 17-18 yrs old. Enter college and take Economics, Psychology or Sociology...because they are supposed to be pretty easy and students "think" there won't be much writing involved.
I have one graduating college this week and 5yrs ago, we were having this type of conversation.
You should be teaching at one of the University of California campuses, U Dub, or ASU?