Dr. Arti Sharma is working as a Head of the Sociology Department at IIS University. She holds a Ph.D. degree in Sociology. She is also a Team Member in the RISHII Project (Resources for Internationalization of Higher Education Institutions in India) sponsored by one of the Spain University. She was a Co-Investigator, in UGC Minor Research Project titled, “Globalization and women in Informal Sector”. She has supervised student projects related to aging and juvenile delinquency. She has received award for Excellence in Academic and Institutional work from the IIS University, Jaipur. She has authored one book and is the co-editor of three books. She has also published a number of research papers in national and international journals on topics related to gender inequality and educational sociology.

IIS University Jaipur

What are your roles and responsibilities?

“To solve their issues and ensure my presence whenever they need my guidance”

Being the head of the department, my basic accountabilities towards students are as follows:

  • Provide strong academic leadership.
  • Enhance the research base of the department.
  • Work towards continuous up-gradation and development of curriculum to keep it at par with changing needs of contemporary society.
  • Monitor teaching-learning activities. 
  • Organize workshops, expert talks, conferences, community outreach programs.
  • Prepare annual calendar and budget.
  • Maintain general discipline and ensure working as per rules and regulations of the university.
  • Address grievances of the students and faculty and resolve those issues on time.

How do you establish healthy relations with the students and fellow faculty? 

“Through my approach of effective communication”

I ensure an environment of mutual respect and value for individuality. I maintain effective communication with all and always work on constructive feedback. I also ensure my active engagement in the academic endeavors of students and faculty along with concern for the personal problems to have a good relationship with them. 

How do you bring in a practical and industry-oriented approach towards subjects?

“I use practice such as training, case studies and professional visits”

I use a lot of case studies and journals to enforce the approach of practical learning in my class. Field visits and internships are also organized for our students, and along with all these industry experts are invited to interact with the students. Students are assigned various projects in every semester to strengthen their subject knowledge.

How the curriculum is strategized and updated to make it befitting for the students? 

“We have adopted feedback mechanism for this”

Pre-BOS meetings are organized to take feedback from teachers for curriculum revisions. We also take feedback from our Industry experts and alumnae, students and their parents. On the basis of that feedback, we do necessary updates and send them to the Board of Studies for final approval.

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Which career options are available for students after pursuing UG or PG with Sociology?

“Career scopes are limitless ranging from private to public sectors”

Opportunities are limitless for students after pursuing UG with Sociology and some of those are as follows: 

  • Social Protection officers and Fund Raisers in NGO 
  • Welfare officers and Social Workers in hospitals and Rehabilitation Centers
  • CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Managers and Personnel Officers in Private and Public Sector Companies.

Following job opportunities are available after MA Sociology:

  • Family Counsellors in NGO
  • CSR Managers and Public Relations Officer in Public and Private sector companies 
  • Qualitative Research Managers in Market Research Firms
  • School teachers and College Lecturers
  • Sociology is one of the popular subjects for civil services

How students are prepared by your college to cope with this competitive world?

“By cheering them to stay updated and through counseling sessions”

The students are constantly motivated to keep themselves with the latest developments taking place in society. They are also motivated to adhere to regular study schedules and work hard for achieving their goals. They are counselled to join Career Oriented and Skill Development courses to enhance their Curriculum Vitae. 

What extracurricular activities are organized in college to enhance the skills of the students?

“We organize a variety of activities from fun to academic”

We do have various extracurricular activities for students such as Sports activities, debate competitions, creative writing competitions and theatre shows and also we do have various academic clubs and these clubs help in inculcating the spirit of team building and development of leadership qualities in students and to enhance their skills. 

Which challenges did you face to uplift the quality of education of your department?

“Maintaining students focus toward subject”

As such the faculty and the students are very cooperative and ready to take up any challenge. We keep on motivating our students to read reference books and research articles so that they can develop sociological imagination but not all students are responsive to the idea of supplementary readings and this becomes a challenge for us sometimes. 

What are the approaches you bring in apart from the curriculum to teach your students?

“Field visits and monthly presentation are mandatory for them”

Sociology is a diverse subject that requires a variety of pedagogical techniques and skilled two-way communication to deal with different topics. We encourage our students to actively participate in classroom discussions. Oral presentations are compulsory for all students which help in improving their communication and public speaking skills. Our students are also actively engaged in fieldwork and encouraged to take work-study programs and short-term internships.

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Any valuable advice would you like to the students for a prosperous career ahead?

“Master one skill at a time and keep a clear path for your career”

I would like to suggest my students stay focused and strive for excellence. Set your career goals and work hard for them and keep a very clear definition of what do you want to do in your life. The students should also build their networks and keep their skills updated in line along with the latest technological developments.