Social Science Subjects, Courses, and Job Opportunities
Social science as a field deals with the scientific study of human society and social relationships. Here we will discuss in detail all the Social Science Subjects, Meaning, Courses, and Job Opportunities for Social science graduates.
Meaning of Social Science
Social science, arguably, ranks among the oldest discipline. Science is an organized body of knowledge that emerged following the era of traditional beliefs which couldn’t be proven. With science, things that happen aren’t simply just stated, logical explanations are put forward to understand why things happen. Social science, therefore, tries to explain the why behind the happenings in human society.
In the typical society, there are relationships that serve as a link for communication between humans. Social science steps to give valid facts regarding why humans gravitate towards a certain person and even more. Societies also consist of varying degrees of human behaviors.
Through this discipline, we know that human behaviors are either influenced from within, which is beliefs they have etched into their hearts, or possibly, without, by pressures externally.
How about the sharp plummet of sales of natural resources, or is it the increased crime rates that many societies are embattled with these days? Even the alarming unemployment rates are no exception. All these are fondly referred to as social problems.
Social science as an academic discipline delineates these sorts of negative happenings with the aim of understanding their root causes so that a positive change can be effected.
Social Science Versus Natural Sciences
It must be said that social sciences significantly differ from natural sciences. This difference is seen in the fact that social sciences concern themselves with the intangibles which include: behaviors, resources, and events of societies. Natural sciences, on the other hand, are much more interested in the tangibles of the societies that can be seen and handled.
Social Science Subjects
The wide range of perspectives from which all the constituents make up societies has therefore ensured that they are broken down into smaller and simpler bits known as social subjects.
We start with the very common ones. They include:
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Economics
- Law
- Geography
- Sociology
- History
- Linguistics
- Psychology
- Politics
- Criminology
- Development studies
- Cultural studies
- Communication
Courses of Social Sciences
Social sciences do have a standalone faculty in many universities in Nigeria such as in MAAUN, they are linked together with management sciences. Apparently, management sciences deal greatly with the impact of the resources of the societies and how to ensure they are distributed impartially.
Below are the courses you should expect in the faculty of social sciences or faculty of social and management sciences as the case may be:
- Accountancy
- Actuarial science
- Public administration
- Public administration and local government studies
- Business Administration
- Business management
- Economics
- Economics with Operations Research
- Transport planning and management
- Insurance
- Marketing
- Criminology and penology
- Criminology
- Government and Public administration
- Political science and defense studies
- Economics with statistics
- Banking and finance
- Conflict and Peace Resolution
- Geography
- Peace and Conflict studies
- Philosophy
- Psychology
- Religious studies
- Social work
- International Relations
- International studies
- International Relations and diplomacy
- Entrepreneurship
- Demography and Social statistics.
- Social work
- Social anthropology
Social Science Job Opportunities
The courses available are so many which reinforces the fact that job opportunities abound in social sciences and the extent of how lucrative it is depends on the particular course.
We would run through the job opportunities available whilst beginning with the top ten lucrative ones in no particular order. They include:
- Political scientist
- Economist
- Industrial and Organizational Psychologist
- Geographer
- Sociologist
- Urban and Regional Planner
- Psychologist
- Anthropologist and Archaeologist
- Historian
- Survey researcher
Others include:
- Public administrator
- Criminologist
- Social anthropologist
- Actuarial scientist
- Accountant
- Business administrator
- Marketer
- Business Manager
- Banker
- Stockbroker
- Demographer
Conclusion
As a study of human society and social relationships, it sure offers lucrative job opportunities for graduates as we have seen above.
We do hope you are now informed and more equip to make the decision to study a social science course? If you have any questions, please feel free to use the comment section below, e will be here to answer them swiftly. See you in the next post. Thanks.
