Social Sciences

Types of Degrees Social Sciences Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general social sciences graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	9,994
Bachelor’s Degree	5,605
Master’s Degree	1,618
Graduate Certificate	134
Basic Certificate	77
Doctor’s Degree	26
Undergraduate Certificate	4

What Social Sciences Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, social sciences majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Social Sciences Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for Social Sciences Majors

social sciences majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Social Sciences Majors

A major in social sciences will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Social Sciences Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with social sciences:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
City and Regional Planning Aides	4.4%	$46,640
Clinical Data Managers	33.9%	$87,780
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Investment Fund Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	7.5%	$60,320
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Social Science Research Assistants	4.4%	$46,640
Social Sciences Professors	9.8%	$71,600
Statisticians	33.9%	$87,780
Supply Chain Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Survey Researchers	2.1%	$57,700
Transportation Planners	6.7%	$81,340

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 6,378 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general social sciences in 2021, making it rank #67 in popularity. The major attracts more women than men. About 66% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of social sciences majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	300
Black or African American	815
Hispanic or Latino	977
White	2,688
International Students	196
Other Races/Ethnicities	629

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Social Sciences. About 3.5% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Social Sciences

Some careers associated with social sciences require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for social sciences careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	0.7%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	0.8%
Some College Courses	1.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	2.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	51.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	3.3%
Master’s Degree	29.6%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.7%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.8%
Doctoral Degree	7.7%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.3%

Online Social Sciences Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	2	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	1
Associate’s Degree	166	40
Bachelor’s Degree	35	4
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	63	8
Post-Master’s	7	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	15	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Social Sciences

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to social sciences.

Major	Number of Grads
Political Science & Government	46,438
Economics	46,225
Sociology	33,194
International Relations & National Security	14,086
Anthropology	10,899
Geography & Cartography	7,541
Other Social Sciences	2,069
Urban Studies	1,301
Sociology & Anthropology	552
Archeology	339
Demography & Population Studies	81

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Manfred Werner (Tsui) under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.