Failing to Master Divinity: How Institutional Type, Financial Debt, Community Acceptance, and Gender Affect Seminary Graduates' Career Choices
Seminaries, as both educational and religious organizations, have the goal of training religious leaders. In this article, I analyze the factors associated with the breakdown of this process, i.e. when a seminarian does not want to be in a religious career. I offer four reasons for this breakdown: i...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Sage Publications
[2015]
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In: |
Review of religious research
Year: 2015, Volume: 57, Issue: 3, Pages: 341-363 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada
/ Academic
/ Vocational choice
/ Reason
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RelBib Classification: | FB Theological education KBQ North America KDD Protestant Church RB Church office; congregation |
Further subjects: | B
Leadership
B Higher Education B Debt B Seminary B Gender B Clergy |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | Seminaries, as both educational and religious organizations, have the goal of training religious leaders. In this article, I analyze the factors associated with the breakdown of this process, i.e. when a seminarian does not want to be in a religious career. I offer four reasons for this breakdown: institutional type, financial strain, community acceptance, and gender. Drawing on recent survey data of 3015 American and Canadian seminarians graduating with the Master of Divinity degree from 136 seminaries from the Association of Theological Schools, I interpret results from multilevel logistic regressions testing five hypotheses. I find that Master of Divinity graduates who attend a university-affiliated seminary are less likely to want to be in a religious career, while those who feel more accepted within the seminary community are more likely. Educational debt has no effect. Most importantly, gender has profound effects on the choice to enter a religious career. |
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ISSN: | 2211-4866 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Review of religious research
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s13644-015-0209-2 |