"The world economy no longer pays you for what you know; Google knows everything. The world economy pays you for what you can do with what you know.”
Andrea Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

 

To succeed in the 21st century new graduates need to have following skills; 

  • critical and creative thinking
  • analytic problem-solving
  • conducting research and data driven analysis
  • communication and collaboration
  • multicultural and global understandings to be able to work in diverse teams whose members are from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds

The Sociology program at Penn State Harrisburg is designed to provide opportunities for students to study social change, diverse communities, and their interactions through scientific methods. The Bureau of Labor Statistics site states that people with sociology degrees specialize in a wide range of social topics, including health, crime, education, racial and ethnic relations, families, population, gender, poverty, and aging. Studying sociology helps students foster the core set of knowledge and skills that are required by 21st century employers. 

Job Categories

A degree in sociology provides opportunities to work in numerous fields with various roles. Based on American Sociological Association's (ASA) 2012 survey  "What Can I Do With a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology?"  occupational categories for sociology graduates’ first jobs are:

  • 23% Social Services, Counselors
  • 14% Sales/Marketing
  • 14% Administrative Support
  • 12% Teachers
  • 12% Service Occupations
  • 8% Information Technology, Public Relations
  • 5% Social Science Research
  • 4% Management
  • 8% Other

 The following lists illustrates some of the entry-level job titles of sociology graduates

  • Social Services
    • caseworker
    • counselor
    • director of client services
    • funds coordinator
    • manager of service-learning programs
    • community organizations worker
    • correctional officer
    • domestic relations officer
    • daycare center supervisor
    • immigration specialist
  • Administrative Support
    • program coordinator
    • policy and legislation researcher
    • office manager
  • Social Science and Research
    • research assistant
    • lobbyist
    • grant writer
    • statistician
    • qualitative data analyst
  • Other
    • editor
    • help desk technician
    • intelligence officer
    • labor relation specialist
    • quality assurance manager
    • campaign manager
    • work place trainer