General Social Sciences

Types of Degrees General 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	5,439
Master’s Degree	439
Graduate Certificate	42
Basic Certificate	32
Doctor’s Degree	11
Undergraduate Certificate	4

What General Social Sciences Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to general social sciences and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for General Social Sciences Majors

General Social Sciences majors often go into careers in which the following 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.
• 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.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for General Social Sciences Majors

A major in general social sciences prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for General Social Sciences Majors

General Social Sciences majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a General Social Sciences Major?

People with a general social sciences degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
City and Regional Planning Aides	4.4%	$46,640
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
Social Science Research Assistants	4.4%	$46,640
Social Sciences Professors	9.8%	$71,600
Transportation Planners	6.7%	$81,340

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

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 general social sciences majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	270
Black or African American	801
Hispanic or Latino	956
White	2,618
International Students	179
Other Races/Ethnicities	615

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in General Social Sciences. About 3.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to General Social Sciences

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

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to general social sciences have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	1.2%
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)	0.9%
Some College Courses	2.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	1.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	56.0%
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.	3.4%
Master’s Degree	30.8%
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.	1.4%
Doctoral Degree	1.0%

Online General 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	9	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	40	4
Post-Master’s	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	8	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to General Social Sciences

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

Major	Number of Grads
Research Methodology & Quantitative Methods	1,496
Survey Research/Methodology	1

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.