Honor, Prestige, and the Academy: A Portrait of Political Science Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty in Ph.D.-Granting Institutions (2012-2013)

Abstract

This paper submits the political science discipline to a Bourdieuian analysis. We focus on the placement of faculty at Ph.D.-granting institutions by Ph.D. alma mater. We find that as one’s prestige rank decreases, their ability to place diminishes. We find that the Ivy League enjoys a tremendous prestige benefit for placement that goes beyond their program ranking that other university conferences do not. We argue that placement and placement efficiency is a more appropriate tool for ranking Ph.D. programs. Finally, we discuss the negative implications of prestige-chasing in Ph.D. programs, which includes: legal risk, academic rebellion, and programmatic irrelevance.

Keywords: Bourdieu, Honor, Prestige, Higher Education, Political Science, Political Sociology