In the past few years, technology seems to have taken the driving seat of the economy, which leads to many students in other majors especially those with social science degrees reflecting the usefulness of what they have learned and how they can navigate in such a world shifting its focus on technology? Some people begin to worry that prospective students might choose to study science rather than social science for sake of a better job opportunity.
Member of Parliament Sun Xue ling in a speech expressed her opinion on this issue, saying that the technology itself is cold without feeling and without sense of right or wrong. For example, the nuclear power can either be used to generate energy to benefit people or result in the outbreak of a war. Therefore, social science students of today with an understanding of the human condition have an important role to play in supervising the application of technology correctly.
In fact, the corny joke about social science graduates working in McDonald’s is a misguidance. The HESA institution investigates the quite common stereotype that a social science degree is less wanted in the labor market than a science degree. And the final report proved this stereotype was wrong and the courses provided by those higher education institutions are helpful for job seeking.
According to the HESA data, social science graduates are more likely to get paid employment than science graduates and be promoted to managerial or senior positions. The research followed the three and a half years career paths of over 62,000 university students after they graduated from university in 2009. The figures revealed that about 84.2% of social science graduates find three years after graduation, compared with 78% of students graduated with science degrees.
As a social science graduate myself, I find there are many options and opportunities out there, such as careers in government departments, trade unions, NGOs, international institutions and think tanks, also careers in companies such as human resources management and public relations, advertising and marketing. The courses of social science usually train students’ skills of researching, analyzing, presenting and writing, as well as interpersonal skills and teamwork spirit, which are always much valued by bosses.
Having a degree in social science doesn’t necessarily mean that these people will change the society, but it helps a lot with works. Phil Redmond, the famous English television producer, graduated with a degree in social science has used his insight into human awareness to produce many award-winning TV dramas. His dramas usually reflect a wide variety of social topics such as bullying, drug abuse, domestic violence and unemployment.
