Ph.D. Candidate Andrew Nevin published an article entitled, "Academic Hiring Networks and Institutional Prestige: A Case Study of Canadian Sociology" in the Canadian Review of Sociology. The study addresses the research questions of: (1) What is the structure of the sociology Ph.D. exchange network in Canada? and (2) What is the relationship between institutional prestige and the hiring patterns observed within this network? Despite the Canadian higher education system being understood as a "flat social structure," Nevin finds that most PhDs hired in Canadian sociology departments were trained in a few departments, suggesting that institutional prestige plays a role in hiring.
Andrew Nevin's research interests are primarily within the realm of Sociology of technology, cyber criminology, Sociology of the Internet, and inequality and stratification.
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Nevin, Andrew D. 2019. Academic Hiring Networks and Institutional Prestige: A Case Study of Canadian Sociology." Canadian Review of Sociology 56(3):389-420.
This article examines the academic job market for Canadian sociology through its PhD exchange network. Using an original data set of employees faculty members in 2015 ( N= 1,157), I map the hiring relationships between institutions and the analysis of the observed network structure. My findings show that institutionalization is a powerful organizing force within this network, which is a reflection of the importance of a few centralized high-status institutions. However, further investigation is needed to understand the role of prestige in Canadian higher education, which has been characterized by a flat social structure. This requires attention to the interrelationships between institutional prestige, scholarly competence, and department size within a segmented academic field in Canada.