Major in sociology

Has anyone done this? And if so, what kind of jobs can you get using this degree? It seems to me to be more of a starting degree and from there you can use it to go onto other areas of study, if that makes sense?

I have a sociology major. But I did it more out of interest than for career purposes. I did a double major with the other being more vocational.

I loved sociology though!

nothing2lose - thats good to hear! Maybe your screen name is a sign for me! :) Briefly, what is the course all about? Is it a stepping stone towards social work etc?

Now you're testing the memory! I graduated almost 20 ago!!! :o

Basically it involves the study of society and the theories behind its evolution and operation.
A lot of people who become social workers may study sociology but it is entirely different.

What are you hoping to use your degree for?

Hmmm, this may be the wrong direction then. I am currently doing an education degree but I am getting no where with it, as its on campus and its hard to actually go to uni with two little ones. I have done all the units that I can do externally. The sociology degree is done online. I was hoping it could be used towards a job in a government position like dept. for child protection or dept. for communities

Hmmm I am not really sure. Can you phone the relevant department in your state and ask? They would be able to tell you what sort of graduates they take.

I know social workers in Victoria but they don't work in Govt departments. They also tend to have psychology or social work degrees.

Hmm, may need to pick you're brains down the track.
I'm back at uni next tues and the next subject is sociological. I'm scared stiff I just won't get my head around it.

Many govt departments are happy to hire graduates with pretty much any kinda-related degree. For eg, I work with people who have degrees in maths, public health, history, one guy did sociology or (?)cultural anthropology or something that I'm not very clear on. But I agree with N2L, if you are interested in particular departments, make some enquiries.

BUT - if education is still what you really want to do, why not explore what other courses are available by distance ed. It could be that you can do much more externally through a different uni. Don't just think about what's available locally because that's not the way education works now.

Some other sites that you might find helpful:
Job Guide 2011 – careers options and job requirements
Job Outlook - Make Your Career a Reality - Job Outlook – occupational information
myfuture: Australia's career information service – get the facts and personalise your careers exploration.

Thanks heaps MD!!!!! xox

As someone with 2 useless degrees (they don't give me a trade), I would really encourage you to know where a particular degree will lead before you invest large amounts of time and money. If you want to be a social worker then sociology won't really get you any closer to that. To be useful these days, psychology graduates really need a master's degree - I don't think you can get registration as any kind of psychologist without it. As someone else said, are there other options for education by distance? The Good Guides is a good place to search for distance courses.

Hi Isadora

I am studying a bach of social work externally. A huge part of the degree is sociology as well. The main parts of social work degree are obviously social work subjects, psy and sociology. I think for memory there are about 4-6 sociology subjects in the degree.

I have also worked in govt (Disability) and I know of people who have degrees in all sorts of things! They are big on degrees. For me though I have to study something that interests me and the bach of social work is just awesome! yes the residentials and work placements are a pain in the butt, but overall I love it. And I LOVE the sociology subjects, they are awesome!lol

Like twinkle I'm doing a double degree in social work/arts.

For social work I HAD to do a major in either psych or sociology.

When you do the intro to social work you understand why sociology is applicable to social work...... Payne's categorization of social work explains it well.

I'm doing a major in psych (maps so I can decide later if I want to change from sw to psych without adding extra subjects). But I'm doing a soc minor.

Sw is more than casework and can involve the changing/ support of communities hence sociology

So if sw is what u want do sociology if teaching is more where u want to head then I'd definately do something else.

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Thanks ladies for that info.

As much as I am into teaching, I have also always been into people and learning about people, children etc. My other career option has always been social work. But now that I am a mum of 2 I am not so much career focused any more - when they are grown up I probably will be. I would be happy to just be working under a social worker in a govt dept. Thats why I am thinking I should do this degree in sociology to get my foot in the door and maybe down the track go on to do a masters. Just taking baby steps. I just feel like I am getting no where with my current degree as I cant leave my children in daycare to get to uni due to the high cost. I quite enjoy doing units externally too.