The Benefits of a Social Science Degree

In a tech-heavy world, human skills matter. While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming better at managing data, we still need people to understand the human condition and how to work effectively with and support others. One way to learn these skills is to complete a social science degree.

Social science isn’t just about studying society, culture and human behaviour for the sake of it. Social science empowers us to engage more effectively with one another, enabling us to build successful businesses and work towards a more just and harmonious world. 

At SACAP, our degree programmes focus on applied learning, which means you aren’t just learning theoretical human skills but gaining practical, transferable know-how. In this post, we’ll share more about the subjects, skills and careers you will study when you register for a social science degree. 

What is a social science degree?

Before registering for a relevant qualification, it’s crucial to understand precisely what social science is and the value of an applied social science degree. 

According to the International Journal of Reviews and Research in Social Sciences, social science is “…devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies.” Applied social science is, therefore, the application of what we learn about society and human behaviour to real-life scenarios, such as the workplace.

Social science is a broad field, and SACAP focuses on some of its core disciplines, including the following:

• Psychology: the scientific study of the mind and behaviour – how we think, feel and act, and how social and cultural factors shape us.
• Counselling: providing guidance and assistance in resolving personal and psychological problems.
• Sociology: the systematic study of human society and how people organise themselves, and relate to one another in groups and communities.
• Criminology: the scientific study of crime and criminal behaviour
• Business management:  the study and practice of planning, organising and leading people and resources to achieve an organisation’s goals.
• Human Resources (HR):  the field focused on attracting, developing and supporting employees at work – from hiring and training to performance, wellbeing and workplace culture.

While you may choose to focus on a particular core discipline, you’ll find that many of them overlap. This overlap means you will naturally gain a broader understanding of human behaviour in social and cultural contexts, no matter which focus area you choose to pursue. 

Why study a social science degree?

A social science degree offers a wide range of possible focus areas, thereby facilitating the development of transferable skills. Transferable skills apply across industries and provide incredible value in modern workplaces and people-centred roles.

Some of these transferable social science skills include:

• Research
• Communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Ethical reasoning
• Cultural intelligence
• Problem-solving 
• Analytical skills
• Critical thinking

When we consider the challenges we face in society, it’s clear that these skills are not only nice-to-have but imperative for moving forward in a multicultural, highly complex, and rapidly changing world.  

As an article in the South African Journal of Science shares:

“Research in the HSS offers critical, complex, multivocal thinking and analysis, the questioning of established norms and normative ideas, and can (and must) make important contributions to the equal and just future that we imagine and continue to work towards.

What can you do with a social science degree?

As we mentioned above, SACAP focuses on several core areas. We can group these into three clusters related to social science careers. These include:

• Business management and HR 
• Counselling and community
• Research and policy

We’ll expand on each of these below and give some examples of jobs that you can do with a social science degree. 

Business management and HR

Business management and HR require human skills, which technology cannot provide. Some of the skills include those we mentioned above, such as communication, cultural intelligence, and problem-solving. Practical examples include dealing with conflicts with clients and employees. 

Some of the jobs in this area include: HR manager, various levels of business management, including project manager, chief executive officer (CEO), and marketing manager. 

Counselling and community

Counselling and community development require an even more nuanced understanding of the intricacies of social and cultural contexts. Supporting people and fostering optimal development requires understanding human behaviour and a strong commitment to helping others. 

With a foundational qualification in social science, you could choose to pursue roles that require additional training. These include working as a counsellor (focusing on a specific area, such as mental health), a community health worker, or a fundraising specialist who helps motivate donors to fund specific programmes. 

If you want to focus on working with communities as a social worker, you could also pursue a specialised Bachelor of Social Work degree. 

Research and policy

Research and communication, two transferable skills discussed above, are relevant to developing cross-disciplinary policies that support business and community development. 

Examples of job roles in this area include research assistant, market research analyst, policy analyst, government relations manager and public health policy advisor. 

What modules will I study in a social science degree?

In line with some of the social science careers we mentioned in the previous point, some of the modules that you will cover in a SACAP social science degree include the following:

• Developmental psychology: studying how people grow and change from infancy to old age, and how to support healthy development at each life stage.
• Research methods: learning how to design studies, collect data and interpret findings.
• Social psychology: Studying how social environments affect human behaviour to create better social environments for optimal development and wellbeing.
• Human resource management (HRM) fundamentals: Learning how to manage people within an organisation, encompassing recruitment, compensation and labour law.
• Business management: Understanding all the various aspects of running a business, and how they all fit together, to build better relationships and optimise operations.

Is a social science degree valuable in South Africa?

Yes, in a complex, multicultural country like South Africa, gaining transferable skills is incredibly valuable. We face many challenges and difficulties in our country, from socio-economic hardships and failures in service delivery to a society scarred by historical and ongoing social injustices.

People empowered with human skills can help us build better relationships with one another, which, for example, can support our service economy and better meet community needs. 

A social science degree in South Africa is also a bridge to multiple careers and postgraduate pathways, whether you want to build a career in the corporate sector or start your own business, or if you’d prefer to focus on serving communities through offering support such as counselling and policy development. 

With a broad skill set, you can apply for many roles, especially if you have completed a qualification that focuses on building job-ready skills through applied learning and work-integrated learning. 

Study social science at SACAP

SACAP offers a range of social science degree programmes that focus on practical application and on putting what you learn into practice in the real world. SACAP also understands that everyone is juggling priorities, so we offer flexible study options, including full-time, part-time and online. 

To find out more about our specific social science degree programmes, click on the links below:

• Bachelor of Applied Social Science (Majors in Psychology and Counselling)
• Bachelor of Applied Social Science (Majors in Psychology and Human Resource Management)
• Bachelor of Applied Social Science(Majors in Psychology and Business Management)
• Bachelor of Applied Social Science(Majors in Psychology and Criminology)

To register for one of these degree programmes, you can apply online or contact us for further assistance.