AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION AND OTHER SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONScertification in applied social research. The certifi-
cation program received few applicants and was
terminated by the ASA council in 1998.
Since the 1980s, there have been forces push-
ing for more involvement of practitioners in the
ASA, and thus more membership benefits to serve
non-academic members, as the paring down of
those benefits (as in the case of the Sociological
Practice Review and certification) when interest
wanes. In part, there is greater ‘‘within group’’
variance among practitioners than ‘‘between group’’
variance between practitioners and academics. Thus
while there is clearly a political constituency for
applied work, it is less clear there is a core intellec-
tual constituency.
In 1981, the ASA held a conference on applied
sociology, from which a book of proceedings was
published by Jossey-Bass. That event was a spring-
board for the introduction of applied issues within
the ASA. A committee on sociological practice, a
section on sociological practice, and an ASA award
for a distinguished career in sociological practice
were created. In 1999, about 25 percent of ASA
members had primary employment in nonacademic
positions; the estimate of the number of Ph.D.s
(some of whom were nonmembers) in sociological
practice was higher. The diversity of the nonacademic
membership and their professional needs has been
a challenge to the ASA. In a 1984 article in the
American Sociological Review, Howard Freeman and
Peter Rossi wrote of the significant changes that
might be needed in departments of sociology and
in the reward structure of the profession to reduce
the false dichotomy between applied and basic
research.
COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITYThe ASA has made concerted efforts to be inclu-
sive of women and minorities in its activities and
governance. Since 1976, the ASA has undertaken
a biennial report on the representation of women
and minorities in the program (invited events and
open submissions), on editorial boards, in elec-
tions, and in the governance (committees) of the ASA.
In 1987, the ASA appointed a task force on
participation designed to identify ways to more
fully enfranchise colleagues in two- and four-year
colleges. That task force held a number of open
hearings and met for five years before issuing a
report of recommendations to the council. As a
spin-off from the committee on teaching, a task
force on community colleges made recommenda-
tions to the council in 1997 and 1998 about how to
more actively involve these colleagues in ASA
affairs.
The ASA council adopted the following poli-
cy in 1997:Much of the vitality of ASA flows from its
diverse membership. With this in mind, it is
the policy of the ASA to include people of color,
women, sociologists from smaller institutions or
who work in government, business, or other
applied settings, and international scholars in
all of its programmatic activities and in the
business of the Association.At the same time, the demographics of the
profession have been shifting (Roos and Jones
1993). Over 55 percent of new Ph.D.s are women,
and about 45 percent of ASA members are female.
The Minority Fellowship Program, begun in 1974,
has provided predoctoral funding and mentoring
support for minority sociologists. The program
boasts an astounding graduation record of 214
Ph.D.s; many of these colleagues from the early
cohorts are now senior leaders in departments,
organizations, and in the ASA.DEMOCRATIZATION OR
CONSOLIDATION?The ASA membership has diverse views about the
extent to which the current organizational struc-
ture and goals are optimal. Simpson and Simpson
argue that core disciplinary concerns have taken a
back seat at the ASA; they speak of the ‘‘discipli-
nary elite and their dilution’’ (1994, p. 271). Their
analysis of ASA budgets, as a indicator of priori-
ties, shows shifts from disciplinary concerns (e.g.,
journals and meetings) to professional priorities
(e.g., jobs, teaching, applied work, and policy is-
sues). Other segments of the profession allege that
the ASA leadership is too elite (Reynolds 1998)
and has a falsely rosy view of the field (p. 20).
Demographically and programmatically, the ASA
has changed in its century of service to sociology.
With a solid membership core and generally posi-
tive trends in the profession, the ASA will continue
to sit at the hub of a network of sections and
aligned organizations.