[Air-L] new degree program

Alexander Furnas zfurnas at gmail.com
Tue Feb 28 00:29:03 PST 2012


Hi Catherine,
This is an issue of particular salience to me at the moment as I am in the waning months of a Masters in the Social Science of the Internet at OII. I don't know if you have spoken to anyone there as you consider starting the program, but it might be worth your time.
While I can't speak to an undergraduate degree I can tell you my thoughts on the employability of internet studies people (although speaking as a student currently without a job I don't know what that is worth to you, but I have spoken to lots of people about this as I will soon be on the market). 

In the current economy there is a high degree of uncertainty entering the job market outside of careers like finance or consulting where the entry level process is quite clear - if demanding. Opportunities to flourish - rather than just get by - are often based on convincing people to create a job that they didn't know they needed filled. This is a high risk/high reward proposition. I think internet studies is well suited to that, because being savvy about the use of social media/technology and the internet is something that every industry needs to do these days and there is a relative dearth of human capital that bridges the divide between social science and computer science. That said, getting a job in a position like that is all about legwork and it seems unlikely that there will be lots of straight forward career paths for your graduates if they don't take the initiative, at least initially. The above all holds true, I think, for "esociety" stuff that falls within government, education, policy, non-profit and advocacy space.

On the business side, I think Michael is absolutely correct that there are a ton of internet marketing, social media, advertising and technology consulting things that your graduates might be able to so. In an otherwise bleak job market there seem to be a lot of opportunities there. 

It may also depend on the location of your institution. If you are in the bay area I am sure it would be much easier to set up networking events and establish a connection between your graduates and possible employers. I think the same holds true, to lesser extent, for NYC which seems to have a smaller fast growing tech scene.

Thats all I got. Hope that helps. Feel free to email me if you have any other questions I can help with.

Cheers,
Alexander Furnas

On Feb 28, 2012, at 7:49 AM, Michael Baron wrote:

> Hi, Cathrine
> 
> I think the issue of employerbility of the Internet studies graduates is a
> very interesting one.  There are already plenty of unemployed sociologists
> (who fail to secure a uni or research job). However, there appears to be a
> significant demand for specialists skilled in:
> Internet Marketing, Integrated communications, managing online business
> ventures, developing business blogs etc.
> 
> cheers,
> Michael
> 
> On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 3:41 PM, Catherine Brooks <cbrooks4 at yahoo.com>wrote:
> 
>> Hello! I am developing a new undergraduate program that focuses on the
>> interdisciplinary study of an "eSociety." My list of targeted areas of
>> study are below, but I am thinking about the demand for such a degree
>> program. Put simply, can you help me think about why we need to train
>> students to live in this digital age? What is the demand for such a new
>> degree program? This is tough to talk about given that we don't know what
>> "jobs" students will end up getting or what kinds of new careers will be
>> out there... To develop a new degree program, we have to talk in terms of
>> what jobs and skills students will have. I haven't much more than my own
>> intuition. Any thoughts out there on jobs or outcomes for student training?
>> 
>> I know this is a list of "researchers," but why does our work need to be
>> translated to a student population who need 'job preparation?'
>> 
>> Catherine
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: "Deller, Ruth A" <R.A.Deller at shu.ac.uk>
>>> To: "'air-l at listserv.aoir.org'" <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
>>> Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 6:31 AM
>>> Subject: [Air-L] Work with young people
>>> 
>>> I'm wondering what people's recent experiences have been in terms of
>> working with young people online - particularly around issues of ethics
>> (e.g. anonymity, consent).  I'm about to start researching an online fan
>> community that is not teen-only but does have a large number of teen
>> members, many of whom are involved in 'high' levels within the fandom (e.g.
>> moderating forums, running popular blogs).  I know, like with all teens
>> online, that for some of them their parents are fully aware of their
>> participation, whilst for others their parents don't have a clue what they
>> get up to!
>>> 
>>> The research (planned to be a wide-scale anonymous survey initially, with
>> follow-up in-depth interviews and participant observation with a smaller
>> number of participants) could exclude the teens altogether, or I could just
>> involve them in the survey rather than the follow-up, but as they are a
>> crucial part of the community I'm looking at it would be a shame not to
>> involve them purely because it was ethically 'difficult'.
>>> 
>>> Ruth
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
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>>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
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>>> 
>>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>>> http://www.aoir.org/
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
>> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>> 
>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>> http://www.aoir.org/
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Dr. Michael Baron
> CEO, Baron Consulting
> Website: www.baronconsulting.info
> "My Body is my Temple"
> "Be The Change You Want to See In The World." Gandhi
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> 
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/




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