THE INTRODUCTION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS TO THE PROFESSION OF SOCIOLOGY.

Most sociology doctoral programs lack a formal course on the profession. Graduates of these programs are left to learn the norms of teaching, research, publication, and consulting from observation, by trial and error, or from the occasional counsel of mentors. The result of this hit-or-miss socialization process is not surprising, although most graduates are well schooled in sociological theory, statistics, research methods, and substantive content areas, many are relatively unprepared for survival and success in their chosen profession. The article presents the author's course on the sociology profession at Colorado State University. He is teaching it once every two years for three hours of graduate credit, all master's and Ph.D. level students are urged strongly to enroll. Class discussions center on the relevant procedures, problems, and issues for each topic. The author present this course organization with the acknowledgment that there is no single right way to organize such a course. His hope is that these suggestions for topics, resources, and student projects may inspire many other faculty members to develop similar courses on the profession to meet their students' practical needs.