If you have a passion for working with people, solving social problems and being at the forefront of having a positive impact on communities, you are probably wondering how much you can make with pursuing a sociology degree. Every year, tens of thousands of students at different liberal arts colleges matriculate through a sociology program and come out with many career options. Don’t be fooled by the idea that you won’t make money with your sociology bachelor’s. That is far from the truth. Here is a quick overview of how you can earn a great living with getting a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
What exactly is Sociology
Sociology is the study of human interactions, relationships and complex institutions that result from such interaction. Sociology has many sub-fields that include the study of religion, race, class, gender and sexual identity. Those who study sociology will learn greatly about the evolution of human culture and how such evolution has shaped our world institutions today such as government, politics, religious beliefs, etc. Sociologists are chiefly interested in understanding the historical origins of human relationships and how they impact the way the world is today. It is a very diverse field with many specialties gives prospective students many flexible options compared to more strict degree programs.
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What kind of jobs can I get studying Sociology?
This varies drastically as you can do a lot with a sociology bachelor’s. For starters, if you have an interest in pursuing a sociology degree to become a professor, you can always go off and finish with getting a doctoral degree. Others often go off and go to law school and become social justice lawyers or work in public interest. If you are more or less interested in working with communities and populations of people, you could always go into social work and get a master’s degree in clinical social work. Some people decide to sharpen their writing skills while in school and will often end up becoming certified grant or proposal writers and help nonprofit organizations get competitive grants from government agencies and foundations.
What are the average salaries in sociology?
According to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, those who professional sociologists earned an average of $35 an hour, or roughly $73,000 a year. Obviously salaries will vary state by state. In larger cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, salaries will tend to be higher due to higher costs of living. Smaller areas see a lower salary and in actuality a lower demand for professional sociologists. In 2014, the BLS projected that there will be negative one percent growth in sociology field.
Don’t be scared and assume that you won’t be able to do anything with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. The career opportunities are limitless if you are open to exploring other post-graduate options and career tracks that utilize skills learned in a sociology program. While the overall job outlook may not be growing as fast compared to other industries, the flexibility of enrolling in a sociology program will give you much better options post-graduation compared to someone who studied such a nice field. With the right due diligence and research into prospective career fields, there is much one can do with a sociology degree.