Sociología profesional en Chile: inserción ocupacional, usos de conocimiento y profesionalismo público

With empirical evidence from an alumni survey, we document the occupational placement of a sociology programme taught for more than 25 years at a university of intermediate selectivity in Santiago, Chile.The evidence includes all cohorts of this programme, enabling descriptions of the professional practice of sociology in the context of higher education massification processes, which progressively incorporate students from non-elite socioeconomic backgrounds.Following the purposes of any alumni survey, this study illustrates the conditions of employability in the profession.At the same time, it shows how sociological knowledge is mobilized based on orientations of public professionalism, constituting professional roles with the capacity to contribute to subjects of political and social interest.A study on the professionalization and professionalism of sociology in contemporary Chile is thus presented.Its findings show the most frequent occupations and function, and its gender distributions; the topics of postgraduate study, and; the orientations toward professional autonomy based on specialized knowledge and its potential impact, as well as the degrees of professional achievement and satisfaction associated with it.