Matt Huisman spent a summer in Bosnia while at Northwestern; currently he is a Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan
Sociology seniors' scores soar
Northwestern sociology seniors scored in the 95th percentile on the Educational Testing Service (ETS) sociology exam, administered to college and university sociology students across the U.S. and Canada last December.
“This tells us again that we can claim with authority that our students are achieving academic excellence,” said Dr. Mike Yoder, sociology professor.
“We’re not a performance discipline, so our students get very few chances to demonstrate what they’re accomplishing in public. It lends to the growing enthusiasm we’re seeing for the discipline of sociology at Northwestern,” he said.
In addition to succeeding on standardized tests, NWC sociology majors graduate with a passion for social justice and broadened cultural perspectives due to the department’s emphasis on cross-cultural experiences.
“We strive for students to understand themselves, their own society and finally the world as a whole,” explained Yoder, adding that increasing numbers of sociology students are electing to study overseas.
“Professors Yoder and [Scott] Monsma strongly encourage majors to travel and study abroad,” said Orange City native and 2002 sociology graduate Matt Huisman. Huisman spent a summer in Bosnia while at Northwestern; currently he is a Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan.
In the last four years, NWC sociology majors have scored in the 94th, 96th and 95th percentiles on the ETS sociology exam. The test was not administered in 2002.
