Are social sciences STEM subjects?

I've noticed that in other threads some people think social sciences like economics, law and politics are STEM subjects but others don't.

I personally think they are because they surely still come under the catgory of science

So what's the general opinion?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

username738914

21

Original post by 1338

I've noticed that in other threads some people think social sciences like economics, law and politics are STEM subjects but others don't.

I personally think they are because they surely still come under the catgory of science

So what's the general opinion?

No.

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Reply 2

Okorange

17

Original post by 1338

I've noticed that in other threads some people think social sciences like economics, law and politics are STEM subjects but others don't.

I personally think they are because they surely still come under the catgory of science

So what's the general opinion?

They aren't by definition. Law is 100% an art, economics has a bit of maths but still mainly art and political science is definitely an art.

Reply 3

username1082104

13

General opinion is no. Being a BSc doesn't mean it's STEM (at least the general view of STEM).

Reply 4

Crumbs90

1

Original post by 1338

I've noticed that in other threads some people think social sciences like economics, law and politics are STEM subjects but others don't.

I personally think they are because they surely still come under the catgory of science

So what's the general opinion?

No they're not. Only subjects to do with Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics are STEM subjects. In that sense Economics could be considered a STEM subject, but not Law or Politics.

Reply 5

miacat

10

Lol no. But they definitely don't get enough recognition.

Reply 6

Tophernacus

1

I think people who haven't studied them tend to think they are not and those who have think they are. They all follow the scientific method and involve empirical analysis and can be medical in nature. So I'd definitely include them based on that. The biggest issue is that social science only proves correlation and not causation, technically. So they get treated as pseudo science or less science based. Dispite being held to the same standard as other sciences.

Reply 7

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Crumbs90

No they're not. Only subjects to do with Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics are STEM subjects. In that sense Economics could be considered a STEM subject, but not Law or Politics.

Economics is not a STEM subject, nor are any other social sciences.

Original post by 1338

I've noticed that in other threads some people think social sciences like economics, law and politics are STEM subjects but others don't.

I personally think they are because they surely still come under the catgory of science

So what's the general opinion?

As above, they are not, as they have their own methodologies that set them apart from the (natural) sciences subjects so are not STEM subjects. Notably they are not categorised as STEM subjects by SFE in which courses they determine eligible for second degree funding (which among other areas is available for part-time STEM courses).

The one subject which is a bit of a grey area is psychology as unlike other social sciences which may use aspects of the applications of science (e.g. archaeology or biological anthropology) psychology is somewhat unique in utilising the scientific method in experimental work extensively as a core aspect of the field (as opposed to something which is sometimes used in particular areas like economics or sociology where sometimes experimental approaches are used).

Reply 8

Afiq Abdulrahman

1

Economics is a Social Science and for me personally, if Social Sciences are not considered STEM, then I would consider Economics to not be a STEM.

Are social sciences STEM subjects?

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