What Can You Do With a Masters in Sociology?

Jobs you can get with a Masters in Sociology include social science researcher, policy analyst, higher education lecturer/professor and research analyst. Sociology is a good Masters degree for employability if you want to progress into academia and research, typically followed by a PhD. The highest paying job in sociology may be as a higher education lecturer/professor, with highly experienced staff earning roughly £46,000/$132,000 a year.

In your studies of society, you may have noticed that people usually need jobs (some boring thing about being able to feed and house ourselves, yawn). I assume you’ll be counted among those people once you finish your degree, so what exactly can you do with a Masters in Sociology?

Depending on who you ask, you may hear that it’s one of the less employable postgraduate degrees. Whether that’s strictly true depends on your career goals (you’ll need a Masters if you want to get into academia, typically), but I’ll admit that sociology has less ‘obvious’ roles compared to some disciplines. That’s not the same as saying it’s useless, but similar to a Masters in English graduate, you’ll need to take a broader look at things to get an idea of future roles.

Thankfully, you won’t need to take that broader look alone. I’ve pulled together some sample jobs for Masters in Sociology graduates (both directly and indirectly related), and I’ll also mention some transferable skills for your CV. I’m not intentionally applying social exchange theory here, but if you do feel like looking for a Masters in Sociology afterwards, that’d be grand. No pressure, though.

Masters in Sociology jobs (directly related)

Social science researcher / social researcher

Average starting salary: £27,000 / $53,000

Example duties: apply a range of research techniques to gather information, liaise with and direct social research field interviews, advise external bodies on social policy.

Policy analyst

Average starting salary: £32,465 / $66,064

Duties: analyse data and interpret research findings, write policy proposals, develop performance indicators and evaluations for new policies.

Higher education lecturer (UK) / professor (USA)

Average starting salary: £39,859 / $77,799

Example duties: deliver lectures, seminars and tutorials, assess students’ coursework, develop courses, modules and teaching materials.

Note: In the UK, this would be a lecturer at a college or sixth form rather than at a university—in the majority of cases, you need a PhD to become a university lecturer. In the US, this would be professor at a community college (typically an adjunct professor).

Masters in Sociology jobs (indirectly related)

Research analyst

Average starting salary: £28,799 / $68,082

Duties: conduct data collection and analysis, undertake market research, create strategic recommendations.

Data analyst

Average starting salary: £23,000 / $65,302

Example duties: organise and transform information into comprehensible structures, use data to predict trends, prepare reports and present to management or clients.

Human resources officer/human resources specialist

Average starting salary: £24,000 / $54,000

Example duties: help to recruit new employees, make sure employees have the right pay and benefits, arrange employee support services like welfare and counselling.

Community development worker/officer/specialist

Average starting salary: £31,000 / $51,000

Duties: actively engage communities, work on projects tackling specific community issues, ensure that local people have their say.

Transferable skills for a Masters in Sociology

The type of Masters (MRes/MA/MSc etc.) for your Masters in Sociology will affect the kinds of transferable skills you will develop. An MSc and MRes will develop your research skills more than an MA, for example.

With that said, here are some typical transferable skills for most Masters in Sociology:

• Statistics and data analysis
• Research skills
• Critical thinking
• Project management
• Communication skills

Tips from the author

#1 Pursue scholarships and bursaries where possible

Strictly in terms of employability and salary boosting, a Masters in Sociology isn’t top of the pack (as you’ve no doubt gathered by now). With this being the case, the best way to improve your return on investment is by investing less cash (ideally none at all) on your side. Once you’ve picked out which universities look good to you, I’d highly recommend looking through their funding support. It’ll take a load off, believe me.

#2 If you’re want something social-related but very employable, consider an MSW instead

A Masters in Social Work (MSW) is a reasonably common follow-up to a Bachelors in Sociology, which makes sense—your knowledge of social systems will give you a leg up on excelling with social work. It’s also considered extremely employable, since there’s almost always a shortage of social workers in various regions.

#3 If you’re aiming for academia, go for an MRes

An MRes in Sociology will be an excellent foundation for a PhD in Sociology, which you’ll almost certainly need to do if you’re aiming for academia. A PhD might also give you an edge for general social research roles, but I’d recommend having a look through some existing job specs before you make that leap. A PhD is quite the undertaking, and it’ll be (slightly) easier to get through if you know for certain it’ll help your career.

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