Ep. 40 - What is the Sociology major?

In Episode 40 of the CSUSB Advising Podcast, Matt Markin chats with Dr. Ethel Nicdao, Professor and Department Chair of Sociology!  What is the Sociology major? What skills will students obtain from their classes? What career opportunities are there? What resources are there for students in Sociology? Find out in this episode!

For more information, check out the Sociology website.

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Transcript

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Matt Markin
Hey Yoties! Welcome back to the CSUSB Advising Podcast. My name is Matt Markin, an academic advisor here at Cal State San Bernardino. And on today's episode, we're going to learn more about the sociology major. And our guest today is Dr. Ethel Nicdao, Professor and Department Chair of sociology. Dr. Nicdao, welcome.

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
Thank you, Matt.

Matt Markin
So we'd like to start off with each episode to learn a little bit more, of course, about the major, but also about the guests that's been interviewed. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in higher education?

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
Sure. Well, I often like to tell people that I stumbled into the sociology major. So when I was an undergraduate at UC Davis, I was actually declared as an international relations major, and I had dreams of working for the Foreign Service. And two of the courses that were required for the major were microeconomics and macroeconomics. And I wasn't really fond of those. And so, you know, I was like, Oh, is this really the right major for me, and at the time, I was a work study student at intercollegiate athletics, and one of the staff members in the office suggested that I tried taking an intro to sociology class. And so I enrolled. And after I took that first class and decided to switch to sociology, everything finally made sense. Like, I basically fell in love with a major. And so after UC Davis, I didn't immediately pursue my master's degree, because I was working full time. So four years after I earned my bachelor's, I decided to get my Master's in Sociology at Cal State, East Bay, and was also working full time. So it was a bit challenging. And after I finished my master's, I decided to pursue my PhD. And as they say, the rest is history. And here I am.

Matt Markin
And now you're professor, department chair of sociology, and you know, we've had a lot of students within our office that have asked about, you know, tell me more about the sociology major. So I think this will be a perfect question to ask, how would you describe the sociology major?

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
Yeah, so the best way to describe the sociology major is, it's the study of social life. It's the study of society. And so as sociologists, what we do is we use various theoretical lenses, and methodological approaches to examine and explore what that social life is like. And, you know, when I teach sociology I've been teaching for over two decades, right, or something like that close to that. I often tell my students at the beginning of class, that what we are trying to teach you is how to use your sociological imagination. And this is a phrase that was coined by C. Wright Mills, and for sociologists, they know who he who he is. And he coined this term really, that's often used by sociologists. It's a framework that allows sociologists to really understand the connections between our personal histories, the past, and the social world, and to see how context shapes our social life, and the quote, I often share with my students, and I've memorized this because because it's integral, it's key to the way I view the social world is a C. Wright Mills said, Neither the life of the individual nor the history of society can be understood, without understanding both. And what he was trying to say there, Matt, is that we have to understand our past write the history of society in order to have a better understanding of the present. And for me, and I hope for many of my students, that if they remember that, that if we use that framework, right, if we understand that context, then we have a better sense of why social life functions the way it does. And so let me just add a little bit more to that, you know, the social, the social major, is also very much interested in the way we interact. So we're here I'm referring to social interactions. How do we how do we interact in society? And how do social structures here I'm referring to, these are pretty basic concepts. But here I'm referring to social institutions like education, like family like religion, politics, the economy, how do these social institutions shape our social interactions? And so it's not simply observing casually, sociologists test hypotheses and we use empirical data And I want to underscore that, because oftentimes, there are misconceptions about the major. And so when I say that we test hypotheses and using empirical data, we collect data, we use scientific research methods, including quantitative research methods and qualitative research methods. So for example, quantitative methods might include survey research, it might include secondary data analysis, and qualitative research, which is what I do, it could possibly include ethnography, or in depth interviews, focus groups, content analysis. And so we use these scientific research methods to understand what is happening, why it's happening, you know, how, how things are happening, and what are the causes, right, what are the causes and implications of, let's say, let me give you a specific example of homelessness. So what's going on? Why, why is it? Why is it happening? And what are the causes and implications of that particular social problem? So I'll end by saying that sociology majors, right, aim to inform society about social life. But the ultimate goal is that through our research, we want to inform policy, we want to inform new initiatives or programs or laws that would contribute to social change.

Matt Markin 
Yeah, and then within like, the specific bachelor's degree in sociology, like everything that you've named, like, especially like, whether it's like the intro course, or the the qualitative analysis, the research, that's all built into some of the into a lot of the classes that they'll be taking in the major, correct? Absolutely. And then with it aside from the bachelor's degree, do you also offer any minors in sociology?

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
Yes, we actually offer a minor in sociology. And our website has detailed information on that. It only requires 18 units to declare a minor. And we the other thing that I wanted to share is, we also offer a Gerontology certificate, and that that certificate is actually coordinated by Dr. Eric Vogelsang, who is also the director of the Center on Aging. So there's a lot more information detailed information about that on our website.

Matt Markin 
And of course, the the question we get a lot to from students is, well, what kind of career options might there be with with certain majors? So how would you answer that question in terms of career areas that maybe you've seen some of your students go into after graduation?

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
Yes, that's a that's a good question. May I first talk about what students will gain in terms of skills as as a sociology major, because I feel that that's really important before I answer the question about career options?

Matt Markin
Yes, absolutely. So great.

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
So let me just say that our sociology faculty, faculty, and I'm especially proud of this are committed to really addressing and promoting social equality and social justice in our courses reflect that commitment. And I'm also proud of our faculties wide range of expertise from gender and social inequality to a sexuality, incarceration, migration, race relations. It's a wide wide range. And it's it's pretty amazing in my, in my opinion. And so what students get from the major after they complete the major is that what they develop are critical thinking skills and critical analysis skills. Right. And the way that they gain these is obviously through the curriculum. And I had mentioned previously, the two classes, the qualitative and quantitative research methods, classes. And in those classes, those are required for the major. Our students gain research skills and apply those skills, not only in the classroom, through assignments, but also in research projects, in collaboration with faculty, and we also offer an internships class where students can gain hands on training. And there are so many things I love about our department. And the other thing is, many of our sociology students who are mentored by our faculty, present their work at professional conferences, both on campus, as a matter of fact, one of the conferences coming up is meeting of the minds and many of our students present there, and they also present at regional and national conferences. So in these venues, students can display right there theoretical and analytical proficiencies that they've developed in our courses. And so you're quite question was, well, what careers? What careers can students expect after graduation? So based on the skills I just mentioned to you, sociology students when they graduate, like I said, they have a toolkit of research skills, understanding ethical issues, how to develop arguments with you based on evidence, how to evaluate research, develop, research, interpret the results, and disseminate it. And so, these set of skills are transferable to a variety of careers. I would say that about a quarter of our students ended up pursuing careers in the general category of social services, public services. Others pursue careers in management in education. Other careers that I have seen my former students pursue is graduate school, whether it's pursuing an MD a medical degree, a JD, a law degree, Masters in Business Administration, masters in social work, Master of Arts, Master of Science, and of course, PhDs, right. And so I have actually seen a variety of my students end up in also pursuing careers and criminal justice, and nonprofit organizations, sales and marketing, I really believe that the sociology major allows you to pursue nearly any type of career, right. And so I think that's why that's why I'm, I'm a sociologist, and I've been doing this for decades, it's just, I think, quite flexible, it depends on what career you want. So for example, one of my former students who isn't a sociology major, but took one of my classes. She's actually a biology major and wanted to know, wanted to get some advice from me on what, what her options are, she was possibly interested in teaching or going into private industry. And so, you know, I provide them with various options and say, you know, please talk to other faculty talk to the Career Center, but with the skills that you have, and, and the interest that you have, you could potentially pursue a, b, and c, and this is how you would get there.

Matt Markin
So, I mean, let's say now, like someone's listen to this, this is very exciting. I learned a lot more about sociology about these classes about the major. And I feel like I'm interested not sure if I may want to declare a Bachelors of minor, or just take a sociology class. What kind of suggestions might you have for that student that might be interested, but isn't sure yet is would you suggest they jump into an intro course?

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
Yes, we happen to have several courses that would satisfy GE requirements. So intro to soc is a large course it's about 175 students, and we have been offering that course exclusively online, since the pandemic, so in the, in the past, it was in person, but for the last two years, we offer that online. So intro to sociology is one of the classes that students can take. And the other six classes, there's actually quite a nice variety of GE courses. And so the other courses that can that students might consider is we have a sociology 1100, which is Latino communities, wellness and life skills. We also have sociology 1800, that is critical thinking about social issues. And so for those three classes, social 1000, Intro social 1100 Latino communities and social 1800 Critical Thinking about social issues. Many of the students who enroll in those classes are not majors yet. But what I like to say is, sometimes oftentimes, when students, student non social majors take those classes, they become interested in sociology, and some, some of them end up declaring the sociology major or, or declaring it as a minor. So those are the three classes and then the upper division classes that we offer that are GE also include, so 3410, that is African American family, and then so 3700, which is sociology of globalization. So 3750, which is population and society, and then social 4420, which is the Latino experience in the US. So we have seven courses that satisfy GE requirements.

Matt Markin
Nice. So yeah, so if anything if a student is interested in there's plenty of choices that they have, they can at least meet the GE requirement and use those courses as sort of like exploration. courses to see if they might want to further taking additional classes within sociology or maybe declaring the bachelor's degree or a minor in sociology. And you were mentioning earlier about misconceptions. Are there any other types of misconceptions that you think students or anyone might have about sociology or the major?

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
Yes, unfortunately, I'm smiling, because that's a that's a common question. There are so many misconceptions students have about the major. And let me share a few with you. Some misconceptions students have is that it's an easy major, and that sociology is just about your opinions. And it's not rigorous, or you can't get a good paying job with a sociology degree. And let me just say that, if it was an easy major, I don't think that faculty would have to get their PhDs to become professors, right. I it was not, it certainly wasn't an easy major for me as an undergraduate. Nor was it an easy major for me as a Master's student, or getting my doctorate degree. So it is indeed rigorous. And in terms of in terms of jobs, I mentioned earlier, that there's a variety of options for students to pursue in different industries, right. And in different careers, they have different career track options, I tell my students, this, it's a matter of how you market yourself. So for example, I often and many of my faculty do too often get asked to write letters of recommendation for jobs, for scholarships for graduate school, etc. And so we get a sense of how students are for, for example, writing their cover letters, their personal essays for grad school, looking at their CVs or their resumes. And I tell students this, you need to highlight the skills that you've learned as a sociologist and and show how those skills are transferable. And I talked about what skills skill sets students walk away with earlier when I was explaining it to you. And so yeah, that's that's not true that you can't get a good paying job. Unless you're not looking. You're not looking, I guess, I guess that's possible. But, you know, I don't I don't think I've heard from a former student who's told me they've they haven't found a job. Like I said, the examples I provided to you earlier, I've had former students, many of them, it's interesting end up pursuing careers. Also in criminal justice I, I suppose, because there's a lot of jobs in the criminal justice system. And so, you know, I've had former students go through the academy. And once a sheriff, the other was working at a prison, but now is working with the FBI. And I've had students get their law degrees and medicines, a big one, which is interesting, as long as they take the required science courses. Medicine, not just necessarily physicians, but also, you know, in health care management, or licensed clinical social workers, just a variety of variety of occupations and careers.

Matt Markin
I appreciate you giving a lot of advice and information regarding that. Because yeah, I think that's something to you know, why we ask this misconceptions question is, a lot of times students may come in to the university thinking one way of what a major might be based off their opinion or what someone had told them, and then that just kind of sticks with them. So kind of want to dispel a lot of those misconceptions. And you're mentioning earlier about working with students of updating like the resume CVS. Is there any anything else you want to highlight, like resource wise within your department, that you might offer in terms of like any clubs or scholarships?

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
Yes, yes, actually, we have a student run club. It's the sociology club. And the CO advisors for that sociology club is Dr. Megan Carroll and Dr. Jurgita Abromaviciute. And we also have and the sociology club, you know, has different events that are student sponsored. And I encourage students who are interested in declaring the sociology major to get involved. And that's one way to get involved in in terms of becoming more acquainted with other sociology majors. We because we are a huge major Matt, we're nearly 1000, we have nearly 1000 majors. And so it's a it's a huge, huge department, but the sociology club is one. And again, I suggest that students go to our website to get more information. And I also wanted to plug in our honor society and our honor society is Alpha Kappa Delta. And that is the International sociology honor society where students can apply To be part of that honor society if they meet their requirements, course requirements as well as GPA requirements. And there are a few scholarships that are available for sociology majors. One of them is the Dr. Dominic Bulgarella endowed scholarship. And again, there's more information there, and to others that are open to sociology. And again, these are now administered by the Office of Financial Aid, and scholarships, then to other scholarships that would be available to sociology majors, is the Joanne Vance Memorial Scholarship. And then the third one is the Walter Hawkins and Dr. Jean Peacock EOP endowed scholarship. And again, more information available on the website on CSUSB, as well as our website, a sociology department.

Matt Markin
Wonderful. And then if anyone if a student has a question, of course, they might be reaching out to one of the general advisors within the academic advising office. But would you suggest that they look on your website or reach out to the department if they have other questions?

Dr. Ethel Nicdao
Absolutely. Our website has contact information, not just for myself, but also all the faculty in our department. So their contact information is there. And I would just suggest that they look visit our website and reach out to any one of us.

Matt Markin
Wonderful, and this was a great interview a lot of useful information. So I hope Yoties if you're listening you take advantage and and learn more about this sociology major and reach out with any questions about Dr. Nicdao, thank you so much for joining us today.