Career Opportunities

What can you do with a major in anthropology or sociology? Our alumni have put their skills to work in an amazingly wide array of fields. They include politicians, museum administrators, doctors, veterinarians, lawyers, social workers, school principals, city planners, human resource managers, market researchers, and journalists as well as professors of anthropology and sociology.

A major in anthropology and/or sociology provides you with a well-rounded education. How students apply that education to specific careers depends on their particular interests and skills. Some of our alumni have become influential anthropologists and sociologists. Many of our students go on to medical schools, law schools, or other professional schools. Professional schools value students with a strong record of research, writing, and analysis — skills that can be put to work in fields that don’t yet even exist.

Many students find that a career grows out of specific skills and work experience complementing their studies in anthropology and sociology. Are you interested in learning another language? One alumna now works as a teacher in a bilingual school; another works as a bilingual human services manager; and one runs a study abroad program in Spain. Many recent students have found other specific skills enhance their career options. Consider getting useful training in video making, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), or photography. Our students often apply such skills in a senior thesis or other independent research. Many have found such skills help them find jobs after graduation.

You can study almost anything anthropologically or sociologically. That makes it possible to study anthropology or sociology and also explore all sorts of careers at the same time. Our students often get academic credit for internships completed during semesters off campus — in another country, or in programs such as the Chicago Center or the Philadelphia Center.

It is a big, fast-changing, and complex world out there. Anthropology and sociology can help you find your place in it!

For more useful information, check out The Anthropology Graduate’s Guide and our professional association websites:

• Careers in Anthropology, from the American Anthropological Association
• Careers in Sociology, from the American Sociological Association