Studies & Degrees in Social Studies

Choose where you would like to study Social Studies:

Social Studies Study Programs

Social Impact Minor
Suffolk University, Madrid Campus

Level: Undergraduate Associate     Location: Madrid

Social Study involves the study of people, their activities and relationships, their physical and socio-cultural environment and how they strive to meet their needs. To summarize, it is the study of human group experiences – it has an interdisciplinary nature, drawing from a variety of Social Science subjects – History, Sociology, Geography, Political Science, Social Psychology, Economics, Anthropology, etc.

With relation to this explanation, it can be concluded that social workers help people to deal with personal and social problems. This can happen either directly, or through the planning and carrying out of programs that benefit groups and communities. Social workers provide counseling services to individuals, who are going through crisis (these may be due to death, illness, relationship breakdown, or others). They also provide such people with the necessary information about different programs and services that can help and assist them. Furthermore, social workers guide groups of people, encouraging them to share their experiences and support each other. They can also assist newly arrived immigrants, research community problems and come up with solutions, analyzing statistics and writing reports.

Personal Qualities

To be involved in social studies, you need to have a compassionate nature and truly strive to help people improve their lives. Here are other qualities and skills to consider:

• Very high level of emotional intelligence
• Ability to look at people’s problems in an objective way
• Excellent communication skills
• Great interpersonal and organizational skills
• Ability to work both independently and as a part of a team

Study Options

Social Studies can be taken as a course both at high school and at the undergraduate level. A great number of universities offer the program as a bachelor’s degree, so what you should be looking for is an institution that provides real opportunities for the application of skills related to social work.  For this to happen, students need to participate in many different kinds of activities to gain a broad knowledge base. This can involve activities encouraging independent learning and the investigation of topics that concern society. Many schools are highly involved in the communities in which they operate, and such institutions would a good place for a social studies student to complete their education in.

Furthermore, social studies can be a very helpful complementary subject to other programs, like economics, history, or psychology. It can be a very useful discipline, helping anyone better understand the world we live in and how we can improve our own lives and the communities in which we live.

Career options

As a social worker, there are many fields you can specialize in - family, youth and child welfare services, medical and health services, disability services, psychiatric and general mental health services, juvenile and family law courts, aged care and disabilities, income support and mediation. You may be required to travel to areas where people live in more difficult conditions in order to meet them or organize group meetings. Job roles are mainly available in local and central government departments, charities, voluntary bodies and trade unions, as well as social research organizations.

However, because of the transferable skills this discipline teaches, other advisory roles such as counseling, careers advice, housing, and community development are also available. Finally, you could opt for a teaching job or seek for opportunities within the police and probation service.