The Uses of a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology: Careers of Recent Graduates of a Maritime University

Abstract

What happens to sociology graduates? A mailed questionnaire follow-up study of 267 recent graduates of a maritime university revealed that most of them continue their education in a professional or semi-professional school, usually a school of education or a school of social work. A high proportion of graduates, especially women, become teachers. Many obtain jobs in social welfare agencies, whether or not they continue their education. A small percentage without further education get jobs as research workers for government departments. The women all seem to be oriented to work outside the home, even if presently unemployed. They tend, however, to be in traditional "women's occupations" or "semi-professions," and rarely in supervisory or administrative positions. The graduates in sociology of this maritime university come in high proportions from blue-collar backgrounds. They tend to see their own careers as being upwardly mobile through normal progression to administrative, supervisory, and managerial positions in the educational, social service, and public service sectors of society. They are also geographically mobile, but most migration is within the province or the region. The results are compared with the findings of another study of the careers of 1976 and 1977 graduates in other disciplines and faculties of the same university. Some of the policy implications of the study, (from the perspectives of students, teachers, administrators, and governments) are discussed.