Sieve, incubator, temple, hub: Empirical and theoretical advances in the sociology of higher education

Mitchell L. Stevens, Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Richard Arum

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

    Abstract

    Higher education lacks an intellectually coherent sociology; varied research on colleges and universities is dispersed widely throughout the discipline. This review initiates a critical integration of this scholarship. We argue that sociologists have conceived of higher education systems as sieves for sorting and stratifying populations, incubators for the development of competent social actors, temples for the legitimation of official knowledge, and hubs connecting multiple institutional domains. Bringing these lines of scholarship together facilitates new theoretical insights and research questions.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Title of host publicationAnnual Review of Sociology
    EditorsKaren Cook, Douglas Massey
    Pages127-151
    Number of pages25
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 2008

    Publication series

    NameAnnual Review of Sociology
    Volume34
    ISSN (Print)0360-0572

    Keywords

    • Educational homogamy
    • Globalization
    • Higher education
    • Social networks
    • Stratification

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Sociology and Political Science

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