Careers for Sociology Majors

The 21st century labor market is fast-changing, increasingly global, and technology driven. The skills you need to succeed include creativity, innovation, critical thinking, analytic problem-solving, communication, collaboration, multicultural and global understandings, and expressive and persuasive writing skills. Career advancement in an increasingly diverse global society requires the ability to work cooperatively and effectively with people from different cultures, ethnicities and nationalities.

The good news for sociology majors is that your studies are uniquely suited to help you develop the skills you need for a successful 21st-century career. Sociologists study social life, social change, diverse communities and their interactions, and they use scientific methods to find empirical answers to complex social questions. Studying sociology can help foster your creativity, innovation, critical thinking, analytic problem solving and communication skills.

As a graduate with a sociology degree, you will have a foundation for better understanding and engaging with the globalizing world. You will be equipped with the tools needed to make sense of the shifting social world and contribute solutions to difficult social problems.  UC Davis students and alumni should connect with the Career Center to learn more about career options and job opportunities and how to market the skills learned from the sociology major to an employer.

Given the breadth, adaptability and utility of studying sociology, employment opportunities abound for graduates who have an A.B. degree in sociology.  You can find a list of organizations/companies where UC Davis alumni who majored in Sociology or Sociology - Organizational Studies have found internships and jobs in the Career Center's Majors Database.

 The following list of possibilities is only illustrative — many other paths may be open to you and additional education or training may be required. Careers in Sociology, a publication of the American Sociological Association, identifies these employment sectors:

• Business
• - Public Relations
  - Marketing and Sales
  - Consumer Research
  - Human Resources (Personal Management)
  - Insurance
  - Real Estate
  - Training
  - Entrepreneurship
  - Media
• Community Services
• - Non-profit Agencies
  - Urban Planning
  - Childcare
  - Community Development
  - Environmental Groups
  - Advocacy
• Health Services
• - Family Planning
  - Substance Abuse Education
  - Rehab Counseling
  - Hospital Admissions
  - Insurance Providers
• Higher Education
• - Admissions
  - Advising
  - Alumni Relations
  - Development
  - Administrative Support
• Law
• - Law Enforcement
  - Investigations
  - Probation and Parole Administration
  - Criminal Justice
  - Judicial Affairs
  - Attorney
  - Paralegal
• Publishing
• - Professional Writing
  - Research
  - Editing
  - Journalism
• Social Services
• - Rehab
  - Case Management
  - Youth and Elderly Services
  - Recreation
  - Administration
  - Social Work
  - Local, State, and Federal Agencies
• Teaching
• - Elementary
  - Secondary
  - Special Education
  - Teaching English as a second language