SOC 215 - Sociology of Work and Organizations (3 Credits)

Prerequisite: None
By some estimates, adults spend over a third of their lives working. Most of us are aware of how we’ve arrived at the personal decisions we’ve made regarding work, yet are less familiar with the ways that society structures these choices. This course will examine how societal forces shape work opportunities and experiences by providing students with a broad base of theoretical and applied knowledge regarding the nature of work and organizations. In order to achieve this, the course will progress through several general topic areas: 1) the foundations of the study of work and organizations including fundamental concepts, issues, and theories on work and organizations; 2) the structures and dynamics of work organizations and the impact of their operation on our lives (e.g., the culture of the workplace, socialization into a working life, power hierarchies and organizational control processes, work/family policies, technological promise and challenge) and; 3) critical perspectives on contemporary trends in the work world (e.g., changing nature of careers, the “gig” economy, the globalization on work, sexual and racial politics in the workplace, etc.).