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Sociology

Major/Co-Major/Minor

Description

Effective from 2010
The Sociology major equips graduates with specialised knowledge of social processes and high level creative and critical thinking skills that are sought after by employers across the public, private and community sectors. Sociologists have a deep understanding of social and cultural issues and highly developed communication and research skills. The conceptual and skill-based training the major provides fosters the intellectual resourcefulness and ability to adapt to new social and technological circumstances that are crucial in today’s rapidly changing workplaces - by studying Sociology, students learn to learn. Graduates find careers: in the government and non-profit sectors, in social research, administration, planning, policy development, program implementation and evaluation, social and environmental impact assessment, teaching and lobbying; and in the business sector, in marketing, human resources, media, public relations, tourism, social research and social forecasting.
 

Career opportunities

Few people who complete a major in sociology end up being employed as sociologists. This is equally so for graduates of many other disciplines in the social sciences. Sociology graduates typically find careers in the areas of social research, administration, planning, community development, human resources, policy development, and marketing. These positions all require the conceptual and skill-based training that comes from undertaking a degree in sociology.

Structure

Professional Majors (200 cps, i.e. 16 units)
As part of the 300cps Program Structure, students who are required to complete 200 cps or more study MUST study a Professional Major selected from the Social Science majors.
A Professional Major normally consists of 16 units (200 credit points) that:
• includes all the requisite foundation units; and
• has a clearly identifiable professional outcome; and/or
• satisfies any relevant external professional-body accreditation requirements.
Where a student has completed the requirements of a Professional Major and the degree requirements they are eligible to apply to graduate with the appropriate tagged degree outcome.
Co-Major (100 cps, 8 units)
A Co-Major is a sequence of study focussed on a specific discipline while assuming no prior knowledge on the part of the student. It is self-contained, in that it includes any requisite foundation studies. Where a student has studied a Co-Major they are not normally eligible to apply to graduate with the associated tagged degree outcome.
Minor (4 units)
Minors are a prescribed set of units that may broaden a student’s learning, such as a set of units from different disciplines, typically derived as a subset of a Major or Co-Major. Minors contain no elective choice and are made up of 4 units (50 cps).

Units

For details of the units in the 2009 majors and minors, please refer to http://www.lilydale.swinburne.edu.au/students/structure.htm  

 

Further information

Email: ldinfo@swin.edu.au
Phone: +614 9215 7200