What are they Doing with a
Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology?
DATA BRIEF ON CURRENT JOBS
R o b e r t a S p a l t e r- R o t h a n d N i c o l e Va n Vo o r e n
January 2008

In

AY 2005 the American Sociological
Association’s Research and Development
Department surveyed a sample of close to 1,800 seniors to find out their satisfaction with the sociology major and their future plans for work, graduate school, or both. Early in 2007 we resurveyed the class of 2005 to find out what they were doing with their bachelor’s degree since graduation.1 This Data Brief, the first in a series of downloadable publications from the second wave of the survey, provides information on the post-graduate activities of graduates, the kinds of

jobs they held as of December 2006, their satisfaction with these jobs, and the changes in their overall satisfaction with the sociology major.
Figure 1 compares the 2005 responses of senior majors as to their future plans with their
2007 reports as to what they actually were doing.
The figure shows that in 2005, 40 percent of respondents planned to work and not attend graduate school after they obtained their
_________________________________________________
1The response rate for the second wave of the survey was 44 percent or 778 graduates.

FIGURE 1: MORE SOCIOLOGY BACHELOR’S RECEPIENTS ARE WORKING,
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE AT TIME 1 VS. STATUS AT TIME 2
(in Percents)

42.1

Job Only

60.3
22.2

Grad School Only
13.1

26.9

Both

22.0
Wave 1
Wave 2

8.8

Neither
4.7

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Source: ASA Research and Development Department, What Can I Do With a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology? Wave I and Wave II
A M E R I C A N S O C I O L O G I C A L A S S O C I AT I O N - D E PA RT M E N T O F R E S E A RC H A N D D E V E L O P M E N T

WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH A