Reflections on a Sociological Journey

Abstract

My story is one of becoming a sociologist by accident. Throughout this story, I emphasize the turning points I took and those thrust upon me during my sociological journey. The turning points in my path to becoming a sociologist began during my childhood, although I could not have foreseen them. Both of my parents had experienced downward social mobility yet had managed to receive university degrees despite enduring hardships and living through the Great Depression. Gender roles circumscribed opportunities for girls who grew up in the 1950s. Thus, I entered a women's profession, occupational therapy. After a few years, my interest in teaching occupational therapy students led me back to graduate school to seek a master's degree in sociology at San Francisco State College. I gained a new worldview, although I soon learned that quantification and esoteric theorizing, not social issues, commanded the attention of most mid-1960s sociologists. I also learned that women sociologists had scant opportunities despite their qualifications but decided to seek a doctoral degree in sociology anyway. Eventually the University of California, San Francisco, accepted me in their first cohort of doctoral students and subsequently I worked closely with Anselm Strauss, my dissertation chair, and Barney Glaser, from whom I learned grounded theory. After finishing my dissertation, a temporary appointment at Sonoma State College turned into a tenure-track appointment. Although many years at Sonoma have been tumultuous, I have also had the privilege of developing a writing program to assist the faculty in their research and writing.

Citation

Charmaz, K. (2012), "Reflections on a Sociological Journey", Denzin, N.K. (Ed.) Blue-Ribbon Papers: Behind the Professional Mask: The Autobiographies of Leading Symbolic Interactionists (Studies in Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 38), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 51-73. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0163-2396(2012)0000038006