Career Education in Sociology
Undergraduates in sociology have career opportunities from their first semester through their final semester – integrated into the department’s offerings and through the college’s offerings.
Opportunities in the College of Arts and Letters
The college offers a variety of career explorations and experiences. You can mix &
match these options providing you with a portfolio of academic accomplishments. Visit
the CAL Career & Professional Development Hub.
Opportunities in the Department of Sociology
The department also offers a variety of opportunities and learning experiences. Much of this is based on community engagement. The department’s Center for Community Research & Engagement showcases much of our work in this area.
But we have developed specific coursework for you to pursue throughout your undergraduate career:
- SOC101/SOC296 - Introductory Sociology/Community Engagement Lab
Enroll in a special section of Introductory Sociology with the accompanying Community Engagement Lab. In this lab, you’ll work with a smaller group of students and be connected with a community organization understanding from day one how to put sociology into action and gaining real life experience. - SOC 407 - Survey Research & Experimental Design
One of the options for upper-level research requires a community engaged research component. - SOC 470 - Sociology, Research, & Community Engagement
An advanced experience in sociological research and community engagement with a central component involving a field internship that will ensure students engage with social issues, change, and research in a hands-on manner.
Students participate in a research/field internship/OR community service.
- SOC 480 - Internship opportunities in a wide variety of settings.
- SOC 499 - Individual research with a faculty member and opportunity to participate in SDSU
Student Symposium.
NACE Competencies and Sociology
The National Association of Colleges and Employers identifies eight Career Readiness Competencies—Career and Self-Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity and Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, and Technology—that will equip you to navigate the future work environment and adapt to changing conditions.
San Diego State University enables your career aspirations by providing these competencies through your undergraduate and graduate degrees.
- Career Development & Professionalism - Introductory as well as upper-level courses may integrate career management and planning components. Community engagement and research activities provide hands-on opportunities to reinforce the importance of these competencies.
- Communication - All sociology classes are designed to enhance communication competency. Courses with community-based learning and engagement components have hands-on opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate this proficiency.
- Critical Thinking - All sociology courses provide training in analytical thinking, strengthening students’ grasp of sociological concepts, arguments, and reasoning, which contributes to this proficiency. Our research methods and statistics courses provide students with the skills to gather evidence and use diverse resources to critically think, assess, and solve problems. Community engagement and research practices provide hands-on opportunities to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Equity & Inclusion - Sociology classes focusing on inequalities and injustices regarding gender, race, class, sexuality, etc., and courses on social movement, social change, community engagement and research actions as well as those focusing on culture and cross-cultural differences may all contribute to this proficiency.
- Teamwork & Leadership - Sociology classes with well-designed group projects may promote these proficiencies. Courses on group processes, social psychology, or social structure may enhance understanding of team dynamics and informal/formal organizations; they may also help develop interpersonal attributes such as empathy and tolerance toward diversity in interpersonal styles, as well as in group and leadership roles.
- Technology - Our statistics, quantitative and qualitative research methods courses, and community-based learning and internships contribute to this proficiency.
| NACE Competencies | Specific Skill 1 | Specific Skill 2 | Specific Skill 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Career Development & Professionalism | Prepare students with the knowledge and skills needed for career planning and management, such as how to identify self-strengths, take a proper line of academic courses, seek out or participate in relevant research, and volunteer for a community organization. | Help students to establish meaningful relationships or build rapport with faculty advisors or mentors. | Instill the importance of keeping effective work and study habits, such as being dependable and well-organized, acting with integrity and personal perseverance, setting high standards for oneself, and striving for academic and work excellence. |
| Communication | Improve students’ communication skills by integrating community-based learning, research, and engagement, facilitating the application of sociological knowledge through direct communication and engagement with community organizations. | Enhance students’ ability to actively listen, formulate meaningful research questions, and convey complex ideas and perspectives in clear, concise, and persuasive manner whether in writing or through verbal presentation. | Develop students’ skills to conduct research, engage with a community organization, and exchange ideas or perspectives with people with diverging viewpoints or different social, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. |
| Critical Thinking | Advance understanding of social structures, institutions, and organizations, and how social systems and contexts shape personal choices, practices, and life chances. Enable students to take social dynamics, personal biases, different perspectives, and lived experiences into account in both research actions and community engagement. | Instill the knowledge and skills to define, analyze, and interpret complex social issues, identify root causes and connecting factors, develop or evaluate evidence-based arguments from diverse sources, and use sound and inclusive reasoning and judgment to resolve problems in community-based learning, research, and engagement. | Improve students’ ability and skills to handle multiple research tasks and to think independently and critically to understand, scrutinize, or challenge common (mis)perceptions of the social world. |
| Equity & Inclusion | Develop students’ awareness and knowledge regarding diverse cultures, perspectives, and experiences, especially with a clear understanding of race, ethnicity, gender, age, class, orientation, and religion differences. Prepare students to effectively and equitably engage with individuals or community groups from different cultures and/or social backgrounds. | Raise students’ awareness and sensitivity to societal issues, especially regarding social inequalities and injustices. | Improve students’ knowledge and skills to engage in anti-oppressive and social justice causes, including exposing or challenging inequity in the systems, structures, and societal policies, and embarking on promoting social changes through research and engagement with community organizations. |
| Teamwork & Leadership | Develop or improve students’ interpersonal skills, including the ability to work cooperatively and effectively with other students to accomplish research or engage with community organizations to achieve shared goals. | Develop or enhance students’ ability to build mutual trust and rapport, and to share responsibility and leadership with people who may have diverging viewpoints or different cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds. | Instill the knowledge and skills needed to inspire, influence, and/or mobilize others into working collaboratively and effectively to accomplish research or achieve community goals. |
| Technology | Teach students to effectively accomplish research or engage with a community organization, including how to define a problem, identify strengths and weaknesses of methods and approaches, design surveys, conduct interviews or field work, perform statistical analysis and utilize appropriate technological tools and software, interpret data, communicate results and findings, and make evidence-based policy recommendations. | Promote students’ awareness and sensitivity to ethical issues or concerns, whether in conducting research or engaging with a community organization or with persons or groups with different social or ethnic backgrounds. Effectively navigate or resolve ethical issues and concerns to their best or the optimum outcomes. |
Learn more about NACE Competencies, including a complete list of NACE skills.