The Undergraduate Education in Sociology: A Case for Experiential Learning

Abstract

employment opportunities for bachelors of sociology. This issue of jobs for sociologists has received a very narrow conceptualization, with little focus on what kind of work opportunities might be available, which of this work is related to any sociological perspective and/or definable body of sociological skills, or how undergraduate programs in sociology might help students develop the skills necessary for work related to their formal educations. The failure to confront these three issues generally has resulted from an outdated world view of the linkages between school, work, and the future. An alternative conceptual framework is proposed, and three substantive suggestions for sociology departments are offered: (1) Departments of sociology should critically rethink and redefine the objectives of an undergraduate education in sociology, and identify a body of skills which a sociology major ought to possess. Undergraduate courses which can provide a framework for the development of these skills then should be instituted and/or expanded. (2) Departments of sociology also should develop supervised fieldwork experiments which place undergraduate students in emerging community organizations or other nontraditional working situations. (3) Sociologists as individuals should give their full support and encouragement to graduating students who select career options other than graduate or professional school. The implementation of these three propositions should be of significant assistance in establishing a productive relationship between the undergraduate education in sociology and the creative and challenging work of both the present and the future.