How much of the writing in your classrooms do you believe you’ll be doing in your career? If you’re like me, it varies. The topics are arbitrary, but I feel we’re taught to constantly write about our major, rather than learning to write within them. I couldn’t have chosen a better degree for my taste than sociology, which indeed teaches me valuable marketable skills including research, writing, and critical & analytical thinking. Nevertheless, when applying for a job as a research assistant, I realized that my writing wasn’t adequate for the job, and it made me question what I was indeed paying all of this money for. I read an article by Barbara Schneider and Jo-Anne Andrew about a case study measuring student’s perception of their university’s preparation for workplace writing. By questioning students from disciplines such as management, communication, and political science, It managed to effectively tackle a topic which I’ve discussed with numerous professors, which is how to best make this transition and ensure that you’re writing isn’t limited to that of an academic setting.

Although tailored to those looking to achieve a Ph.D., I assumed my major would at least teach me the writing required for research papers, in which I was wrong. I did learn how to conduct research, however, the formation of these written reports was something that I had to learn on my own time through extracurricular activities or interviewing a professional in my desired field. One thing that I’ve pointed out, similar to that of the management students questioned in the study, is that many of my sociology classes emphasized the importance of group work, including group writing, such as projects, or research opportunities. What would be the most helpful for not only sociology students but for those from all different areas of study, would be what the study suggested, which is extensive writing practice within content-area courses, especially of workplace genres.

As a sociology major, there’s typically a thin line between academia and the workplace, as the most noticeable career in discipline is a professor. Nonetheless, with a changing job market and the loosening of ties between a major and a specific career, I feel that university writing needs to open itself more to the realm outside of academia. For those in sociology, I feel an emphasis on writing in terms of data analysis, for software such as SPSS, should be taught intensively, as they are the most marketable skills acquired through a sociology program. Learning to write up results for SPSS, I’ve noticed is different than a lot of the theoretical perspectives taught in class. Although these would boost the marketability of a sociology graduate, similar to what the communication majors mentioned in the study, a degree doesn’t prepare you for a career in sociology but acts as the perfect stepping stone to furthering your career within the discipline.

So how do we fix the issue of unpreparedness for workplace writing? One thing that was common amongst students from these disciplines, and something I can agree with myself, is that University professors need to demand higher standards of editorial excellence. I feel as if a pedagogical issue with university writing is that it needs to be taught with an emphasis pertaining to practicality. If a certain level of writing proficiency is required for the workplace, it is the University’s job to ensure completion of the program leads to these intended outcomes, and not have the weight rest upon the student’s willingness to journey of the classroom.