Sociology is a subset of the large and fascinating Social Science division of the Sciences. A Sociology degree program will provide you with a sociological framework for human behavior and an in-depth understanding of how culture and society influence relationships at the individual level. In learning how different societies are structured and different cultures develop, you’ll delve into the social, religious, and political behaviors of human beings as they strive to work, play, and live together.

As in any other branch of science, gathering and critically assessing empirical evidence to support or discard theories is a fundamental component of a sociology degree program. You will learn about past theories of human behavior, society, and culture, and debate why those theories stood the test of time, or not. Some of the topics you’ll cover in earning your sociology degree are social structure, social relations, social stratification, social interaction, and cultural deviance, and you’ll look at the influence of economic activity, health and disease, and empire on past and present societies. A sociology degree program will also teach you the research and analysis methods necessary to explore the human condition and discover how it can affect the world.

Sociology Degree Related Careers

A sociology bachelor’s degree will qualify you to pursue entry-level jobs in a range of career paths: an assistant or counselor in a human services or community outreach organization; a research assistant or analyst in a museum or an environmental, sociological, education, or anthropological research foundation; or as an aide in a political campaign or office. A sociology bachelor’s degree is also a common steppingstone to a graduate degree in psychology, anthropology, political science, history, or archaeology, as well as sociology itself. A sociology master’s degree can lead to careers such as counselor, museum curator, or researcher, and a doctoral degree may qualify you for a directorship of services at a humans or community services organization, director or research at a foundation, or principal investigator of your own scientific research. A variety of other roles at any organization centered on societal initiatives may be open to you.

What’s the Job Outlook?

Perhaps beneficially for U.S. society, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects only a 5% increase in employment of political scientists between 2006 and 2016. Employment for sociologists, historians, and anthropologists and archaeologists, however, is projected to rise 10%, 8%, and 15%, respectively, in the same time period. The need for college professors is anticipated to increase 23%; for industrial-organizational psychologists, 21%; and for museum curators, 23%.

How much does it pay?

Data from the BLS reports that in 2006, sociologists had median annual wage-and-salary earnings of $60,290; anthropologists and archaeologists, $49,930; historians, $48,520; political scientists, $90,140; and federal government social scientists, between $29,000 and $35,500.

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