Social Sciences
Social sciences examine the structures, relationships and processes that shape human societies. The field brings together disciplines including sociology, politics, economics, social policy, criminology and psychology to ask fundamental questions about inequality, power, identity, justice and change. Rather than treating social phenomena as natural or inevitable, the social sciences develop your capacity to think critically about how societies are organised, whose interests are served and what might be different.
It is an intellectually ambitious field that connects directly to the most urgent challenges of contemporary life.
This three-year programme at Sheffield includes a foundation year, a sandwich year, a year abroad and a work placement, giving you both breadth and depth of experience over the course of your degree. The foundation year allows you to build the academic skills and background knowledge needed to engage fully with degree-level social science study. As you progress, you will learn how to conduct high-quality research, how to work with both quantitative and qualitative evidence, and how to communicate your findings to different audiences.
You will explore social science challenges including inequality, injustice and health, developing an understanding of how these issues are produced by social structures and can be addressed through policy and collective action.
Social science graduates are employed across an exceptionally wide range of sectors. Public policy, the civil service, local government, health and social care, the third sector, education, journalism, research and data analysis are all destinations where the analytical, communication and research skills of social science graduates are valued. The work placement and year abroad built into this programme give you practical experience and an international perspective that strengthen your profile considerably.
Postgraduate study in social research, public policy, sociology or related fields is also a well-trodden path.