The Professional Scientist: A Study of American Chemists

by Rainwater,Lee

• ISBN13: 9781412818582
• ISBN10: 1412818583
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-05-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This classic book, available in paperback for the first time, is based on a 1962 study of the American Chemical Society, one of the great U. S. scientific societies. The society has a membership educated in the fundamental scientific field of chemistry, whose knowledge and talents are essential to modem industrial civilization. Without chemistry, we would have neither automobiles, nuclear devices, nor all the varied products essential to our modern way of life. Chemists are caught up in the dynamic changes in our society. The explosive advance of scientific knowledge leads to increasing specialization until experts in one field may have little in common with those in another. Also, as the knowledge and skills of chemistry are incorporated in the workaday world of industry, more and more trained chemists spend their days in routine application and organization of their skills and knowledge. The unique element of this study is its assessment of the role and function of a professional society for its members. Not much is known of how professionals feel about their societies, what they expect of them, or how they function for their members. Such studies assume increasing importance as the trend toward professionalization incorporates more specialized skills and as the members of these professions look increasingly to their societies for assistance in establishing their rights and privileges vis-à-vis the rest of society. This remains a unique effort at professional ethnography.

Author Biography

Anselm L. Strauss (1916-1996) was professor of sociology and chair of the department of social and behavioral sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. His many books include Creating Sociological Awareness, Images of the American City, and Professions, Work, and Careers, all available from Transaction. Lee Rainwater is professor emeritus of sociology at Harvard University and research director of the Luxembourg Income Study. He was an editor at Transaction, the associate editor of Journal of Marriage and the Family, and a member of the review board of Sociological Quarterly. He has written various books and many professional journal articles. W. Lloyd Warner (1898-1970) was professor of social research at the University of Michigan and, before that, professor of anthropology and sociology at the University of Chicago. His research included studies of various communities including black communities in Chicago, a New England community (best known as Yankee City) and a Midwestern Community (Joesville).

Table of Contents

A Science Profession
Professions and Industrialization: A Framework for the Study	p. 3
How the Study Was Made	p. 14
Chemistry in its Organizational Context	p. 27
Chemistry Compared with Other Fields	p. 27
Chemists in Industry	p. 30
Major Groups Within Chemistry	p. 36
Locale and Hierarchy: The Conditions for Diversity	p. 37
University and College Chemists	p. 39
Non-Acadeic Research Ph.D.'s	p. 41
Research Administrators	p. 42
Administrative and Other Non-Research Chemists	p. 43
Non-Ph.D. Researchers	p. 44
The Bench Chemists	p. 45
Chemical Engineers	p. 46
Summary	p. 47
The Chemist's Work World
Recruitment into Chemistry	p. 51
Social Origins	p. 53
Recruitment into Chemistry	p. 56
Careers for Chemists	p. 75
Mobility among Locales	p. 76
Mobility Upward from Research	p. 81
Conceptions of a Successful Career	p. 83
Careers in Industry	p. 88
Careers on Campus	p. 99
Summary	p. 103
The Chemist's Work Morale	p. 106
Income	p. 107
Satisfactory Professional Work	p. 110
Opportunity for Scientific Development	p. 113
Advancement	p. 116
How Others See Chemists	p. 124
Values, Virtues and Shortcomings	p. 129
How Chemists See Themselves	p. 134
Professional Status and Professional Society
Imageries of Professional Status	p. 141
The Chemist as a Professional	p. 142
Chemistry and Other Professions	p. 144
Chemistry and Medicine	p. 145
Chemists and the Public	p. 151
Some Potential Dangers to the Profession	p. 160
Chemists and Industrial Management	p. 165
The Professional Organization: Membership and Symbolism	p. 172
Non-Members of the ACS	p. 173
Membership and Participation	p. 175
Is the Society Sufficiently Professional?	p. 177
Functions of the Society: Present and Possible	p. 180
Who Runs the Society?	p. 184
Attitudes Toward Membership	p. 187
Symbolic Meanings of the Society	p. 189
The SymbolizaUon of Homogeneity and Diversity	p. 199
A Concluding Note on Professions	p. 217
Appendixes
Additional Tables	p. 231
Personal Interview Guides	p. 247
Mail Questionnaire	p. 269
Index	p. 277
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