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DanielLittle
ProfessorofphilosophyandchancelloroftheUniversityofMichigan
Dearborn

Acollegeeducationleavesthegraduatebetterpreparedforcareerand
citizenship.Certainlywemustbelievethatifwecontinuetovaluecollege
enoughtospendthetimeandmoneythatgoesintoafouryear
baccalaureate.Butwhatpreciselyarethenewattainmentsthatthecollege
curriculummakespossibleforthestudent?
Considersociology.Therewere26,500sociologybaccalaureatedegrees
awardedin2009inU.S.universities,andcertainlymanytimesthatnumberof
studentswhoweretakingcoursesinsociologyorpursuingamajororminorin
thefield.Fortythreepercentofthosedegreeswereawardedtostudentsof
colorupfrom30percentin1995.(Thesedataarereportedonthewebsite

PRESENTEDBYGEORGJENSEN

oftheAmericanSociologicalAssociation.)Sotherearealotofsociology
graduates.Butwhyisthisagoodthing?Inwhatwaysisitvaluablefor
undergraduatestomajorinsociology?Whatdoesthisdisciplinecontributeto
theundergraduatesknowledgeandskillswhenitcomestopreparationfora
productivecareerandlifeasacitizenandleaderinarapidlychangingworld?
Themostbasicjustificationforaliberaleducationistheideathatthese
disciplineshelpstudentsgainimportantqualitiesofmindthatlaythe
foundationstheywillneedforproductiveandinnovativelivesrigor,critical

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reasoning,creativity,communicationsskills,ethicalcapacities,respectfor
humandiversity,andthelike.MarthaNussbaumdescribestheseidealsin
CultivatingHumanity:AClassicalDefenseofReforminLiberalEducation.So
howdoessociologyfitintothatidea?Whatarethequalitiesofmindthata
sociologyeducationcultivates?

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Onegoodwaytoaddressthisquestionistoaskasociologyprofessor.What
dosociologyprofessorsexpecttheirgraduatestohavegainedfromthe
experience?IaskedthisquestionofAlfordYoung,chairofthedepartmentof

Why a Sociology Major?

sociologyattheUniversityofMichigan.Alisatalentedandproductive
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniellittle/collegesociologymajor_b_1641546.html

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sociologistwhoseresearchconcernstheexperienceofyoungAfrican
Americanmen.Hisrecentbook,TheMindsofMarginalizedBlackMen:
MakingSenseofMobility,Opportunity,andFutureLifeChances,isan
importantcontributiontothefieldsofculturalsociologyandthesociologyof

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raceandpoverty.(Hereisapostonthisinnovativebook.)AndAlhasthought
longandhardaboutwhathehopesthatundergraduatesociologystudentswill
learnfromtheexperience.

Woman Added Cleaning

Co

Albeginswiththefactthatsociologystudentslearnsomeoftheorganized

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andrigorousmethodsthatcontemporarysociologistsusetounderstandthe
contemporarysocialworld.Theylearnaboutstatisticalreasoning,qualitative
research,andsociologicaltheory,andtheseskillsprovidethemwitha
foundationforunderstandingthesocialworldaroundthemthroughouttheir

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lives.Butthereismoretoitthanthis.Alarguesthatthecontemporarysocial
worldisoneinwhichpatternsofpowerandhierarchyareconstantlychanging,
anditisveryimportantforwelleducatedyoungpeopletohavethetoolsto
piecetogethertheirownunderstandingsofhowthesesocialforceswork.Here
isAlssummary:

Sociologyisthedisciplinethatgivesthegreatestattentiontosocial
differencesocialhierarchy,therelevanceofsocialpowerineveryday

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life.Sociologyallowsforconsiderationofthingsthatarenotimmediately
visibleinourordinarylives,andoftennotneatlyunderstandable.These

8.32M

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thingsarerelevanttohowsociallifeisstructuredandorganized.We
needtolookbeyondpeoplesindividualmotivationsortheir
psychologicalfoundationsandgainabetterunderstandingofhow
peoplessociallocationwithregardtogenderorraceinfluencestheir
thinkingandbehavior.Weoftendontnoticethosefactorsandhowthey

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influenceusandtheopportunitieswehave.Thesematterverymuchin
ordinarylife.

Thiscomesdowntoseveralconvincingpoints.First,sociologyisascientific
discipline.Itteachesstudentstouseempiricaldatatounderstandcurrent
socialrealities.Andsociologistsuseavarietyofempiricalresearchmethods,
fromquantitativeresearchtoqualitativemethods,tocomparativeand
historicalstudies.Studentswhostudysociologyasundergraduateswill
certainlybeexposedtotheuseofstatisticsasamethodforrepresentingand
analyzingcomplexsocialphenomenatheywillalsobeexposedtoqualitative
toolslikeinterviews,focusgroups,andparticipantobserverdata.Soa
sociologyeducationhelpsthestudenttothinklikeasocialscientist
attentivetofacts,probingwithhypotheses,offeringexplanations,criticalin
offeringandassessingargumentsforconclusions.
Second,thecontentofsociologyisparticularlyimportantinourrapidly
changingsocialworld.Sociologypromisestoprovidedataandtheorythat
helptobetterunderstandthehumanandsocialrealitiesweconfront.
Moreover,thedisciplineisdefinedaroundthekeysocialissuesweallneedto
understandbetterthanwecurrentlydo,andourpolicymakersneedto

Why a Sociology Major?

understandiftheyaretodesignpoliciesthatallowforsocialprogress:for
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example,race,poverty,urbanization,inequalities,globalization,immigration,
environmentalchange,gender,power,andclass.Wemightsaythatan
importantpartofthevalueofasociologyeducationisthatitgivesthestudent
abettergraspofthedynamicsofthesekeysocialprocesses.
Sosociologyisindeedavaluablepartofauniversityeducation.Itprovidesa
foundationforbetterunderstandingandengagingwiththeglobalizingworld
ouryoungpeoplewillneedtonavigateandlead.Itprovidesstudentswiththe
intellectualtoolsneededtomakesenseoftheshiftingandconflictualsocial
worldwelivein,andthisinturnpermitsthemtocontributetosolutionsforthe
mostdifficultsocialproblemsthatweface.
FollowDanielLittleonTwitter:www.twitter.com/dlittle30

More: College StudyingSociology StudyingSociologyMajor CollegeMajors

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