Is sociology and social work undergraduate female dominated

Could I ask why sociology? It’s got some of the worst job prospects, and I’m my opinion it’s pretty boring. I think you should do a degree you really enjoy but you should also definitely find something you like with good job prospects

I’m still stuck on what degree to do I’m gonna finish my personal statement this week. I wanna know is social work female dominated and what about sociology? And in seminars is it a mix of genders and ages?

I've never really understood why sociology gets the bad rep that it does - and I say this as someone with a Polsci masters.

It should be a super important and really respected subject like economics; after all it is the study of human group behaviour. I can only think that it's because of the general politics of the people that research, teach and study it - essentially they come across as do-gooder girls and soyboys. And to an extent, there is something to this - anything in social policy has the tendency to be theory on inequality, which is by its very nature a value prejudgement in of itself. Same with criminology - the general direction of most theory and research tends to be trying to explain why groups commit crime - and this then has the tendency to also become a treatise on inequality. By its very nature, the kind of people that are going to be interested in this kind of theory are going to be lefties, your danger hair girls and your soyboys.

Does that mean you can't do good work and you can't do serious research? Of course not. In academia, find your niche and you can totally rule. If you are looking to do private sector - if you went to a good sounding university, I don't see why it should make any difference, but don't expect to jump the queue in front of the maths and econ people.

I'm not convinced that HR is really that connected to sociology. That's a different type of organisational behaviour - more of a business / management type thing (which is another subject that has the same problems). As for teaching - sure you'll be able to get a job because they'll take pretty much anyone, but you might be restricted to social sciences and maybe even VI form or GCSE. If that's what you want, then fill your boots.

because studying group behaviour a) isn't useful to 99.9% of people b) doesn't make money c) isn't a numerical subject and is subjectively assessed, therefore seen as softer/easier than something like economics

If you think sociology isn't quantitative, you're an idiot.

As for studying group behaviour - it absolutely does make money when we call it political science, polling, etc. There is a a whole load of interest in what is essentially sociology, but the label is utterly toxic.

I’m not sure what I wanna do career wise and sociology shows more opportunities like working in HR or becoming a teacher that’s some of the things that interest me. Do you think social work is better or what other degrees would you suggest with more job opportunities?

it won't be exclusively female, but probably like 80% tbh. you'll be in seminars with your age group, but i guess every so often the uni might bring in guest speakers for all years to listen to

I mean don’t get me wrong. Don’t do a degree just because someone tells you. If you enjoy sociology and there’s jobs in that field that you think you’d enjoy and get satisfaction out of 10000% do it. Go for it. I was merely asking why as it’s a pretty uncommon degree for most jobs. It shouldn’t matter if it’s female dominated or not, you just stick to what you enjoy and you’ll be fine. I’m not gonna recommend a degree because it’s all personal preference and is different for everyone. For example it sounds like you want a career in working with people, I’m more of a STEM person. So I can’t really recommend a degree you might like and can get jobs in.

But as I said if you enjoy it and there are non prospects that you want to do 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000% do it. 👍

I've never really understood why sociology gets the bad rep that it does - and I say this as someone with a Polsci masters.

rather than calling me an idiot maybe provide an example of how it is quantitative? its known to be primarily an essay subject

i don't think the skills picked up by sociology are that helpful in that stuff tbh... eg with polling the actual results of polls are more insightful than any sociological theories on why people behave in a certain way. besides, someone with a sociology degree can't do a highly mathematical job, whereas someone with a maths degree could do a behavioural job (besides anything clinical or professionally therapeutic)

I’m still stuck on what degree to do I’m gonna finish my personal statement this week. I wanna know is social work female dominated and what about sociology? And in seminars is it a mix of genders and ages?

@Naymahhhh333333
Hi!

Sociology is a fantastic subject, although progression routes from that degree are vary varied, a lot go into social work (doing an MA in that) or teaching training with a PGCE. I know a few people who went to work for local councils. I'd say my Sociology degree was about 85% female in terms of students, the tutors were about 50/50 gender wise

I think with any social science degree it is worth having an action plan of what you want to do afterwards.

Marc
Arden University Student Ambassador

I do social work and there's 41 people in my course and only 4 are men

Do you enjoy it?

because studying group behaviour a) isn't useful to 99.9% of people b) doesn't make money c) isn't a numerical subject and is subjectively assessed, therefore seen as softer/easier than something like economics