When looking at the most popular postsecondary majors over the years, we can notice that science and social studies have never stopped being attractive. The number of social science and history degrees decreased by 11% between 2011 and 2016, but started increasing again after that.

Why are these subjects so popular? Their focus is to understand how human society works. That doesn’t necessarily lead to the highest paychecks. Still, colleges stay focused on these niches, and they should keep offering such programs to new generations of students. Let’s see: how can students benefit from schools focused on science and social studies?

The Diploma Leads to Multiple Career Options
Social sciences cover a wide ground, encompassing anthropology, sociology, finance, statistics, sociology, criminology, politics, social work, psychology, law, economics, and a few other niches. With such a broad appeal, a graduate with this major can choose between various career options. It’s true that this graduate won’t be proficient in criminology, psychology, or law. However, they can take those career paths if they complete postgraduate programs.

Science and Social Study Help Students Make Better Choices in Life
The concept of social study is complex: by learning about the way human society worked in the past, we can make decisions about the future. When a student approaches these studies from a personal point of view, they can implement the experience in their own life. Take a moment to refer to these essay samples on social studies, and you’ll realize that social science is not just theory. When you understand it, you develop critical thinking skills, which you can use to make decisions about your own future.

It’s a Flexible Discipline
When students explore a social science topic, they approach it from multiple disciplines. They can choose various courses from across the college. This gives them greater flexibility when proceeding to graduate school. Some of the options include: integrated history and science, art and history, history and math, creative writing and history, and more.

The average dropout rate for U.S. undergraduate students is 40%. Many of these students leave college because they don’t see how they will integrate their education into the future. With an interdisciplinary approach, multiple options give them a broader vision. That might inspire them to complete their studies.

Social Studies Lead to Careers that Make a Difference
Ask any young student if they would like to make a difference in this world, and they will give you a passionate speech. With social science education, they get the skills they need to make an actual difference. They can aim towards careers in international relations, politics, education, public health, and environmental planning. They can work with children and adults of disadvantaged communities all around the world. This subject area goes beyond boring lectures in textbooks. It touches upon real problems in the real world.

Students Understand Mankind Better When They Focus on Social Studies
Children have a natural curiosity to understand society. They study how people around them perform daily tasks. It doesn’t take them long to realize how everyone is connected to others, and what their role in the community is. With time, this inner curiosity fades away, and a student has to study harder to understand people’s behavior and social connections. This base of free science essay samples contains multiple examples how college education helps students to perceive the culture that surrounds them. With that, they understand mankind better, and they get closer to comprehending their personal goals.

Students Are Exposed to Different Cultures
When they learn about societies around the world, students get excited to immerse in them. They realize that the perception of moral and good varies between cultures. Students learn how to balance between people with varying backgrounds and differing social norms. This knowledge will instantly make them better travelers. When they visit foreign countries, they go prepared with an understanding of their culture. However, graduates can also use these skills to build careers abroad.

They Gain the Skill of Managing Resources
When describing the field of social sciences, we tend to focus on exploring the past and predicting the future of mankind. People often forget that economics is one of the most important aspects of the subject area. Resource management is crucial for thriving societies. Governments make financial decisions that affect millions of people. They have to analyze all available resources to lead their nations towards the best outcome.

By learning how a society manages limited resources, a student figures out how to manage their own. They learn about the concept of scarcity, which is important for individuals, too.

The Student’s Genuine Curiosity Is Satisfied
It’s only natural for us to be intrigued by other cultures and human beings in general. The matter of successful and failing societies is always interesting. Why are people interested in gossip? Why do they vote? Why is everyone so deep into politics, when we don’t aim for political careers?

Humans have an innate tendency to look into problems and try to solve them. Our society, as a complex structure, offers many issues to investigate and countless problems to solve. That’s why these studies will never get unattractive.

Social Studies Will Always Be a Part of College Education
People, cultures, and societies are incredibly diverse. Students have always been passionate to learn more about them. That’s why they take courses in history, economics, psychology, demographics, anthropology, and other disciplines that help them learn more about mankind. Social sciences are an interdisciplinary niche, which combines multiple courses from across campus.

Each aspect of the studies teaches to make a real difference and play a significant role in human society. The students learn about other cultures, but they also learn how to understand themselves better.

The fact that all colleges offer such programs makes ranking them difficult. Future students must focus on the discipline they want to specialize in. Then, they can analyze the rankings on that particular major, and choose a school to proceed with broader education in social sciences. A great program will offer opportunities to graduate in multiple disciplines.

BIO: Emma Rundle defines herself with a single world: adventurer. She loves traveling, seeing different places, and meeting new people every day. Emma spends her free time reading novels by African authors.