Career Opportunities

Western’s Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology is a solid foundation for a career in social research or service. Skilled public opinion analyses, survey database managers, and human service specialists are in demand. In business and industry, our graduates typically work in personnel management, market research, and sales. Those who focus on statistics and research methodology frequently become junior analysts in research forms or government agencies.

Students with a master’s degree in sociology have an abundant choice of job possibilities. Some of our graduates teach in universities and community colleges across the country. Others hold governmental administrative positions such as those in the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Some of our graduates work with teens and adults in group homes. Some graduates use their degrees to advance in rank and pay in jobs they held while taking classes.

Sociologists are employed in a wide variety of fields. Please note that employment in some of these areas requires additional education.

Degree Requirements

View the Graduate Catalog for program details and course descriptions.

The Master of Arts degree in sociology, 30 s.h., may be earned by satisfying the requirements of the thesis, general sociology (non‑thesis), or internship exit options.

Thesis Plan

Given the fact that one can earn a Master's degree in this program without writing a thesis, the question arises "Why should I write a thesis?". There are several reasons, including the time honored tradition of writing a thesis, and the fact that some - but certainly not all - Ph.D. programs require a Master's thesis as a prerequisite. Perhaps the soundest reason of all for writing a thesis is having a sociological question that you really want to answer. Do your future plans, particularly Ph.D. programs, require a thesis? Examine what those before you have done - theses of former students are in our department chair's office, and the library.

General Sociology Non-Thesis Plan

A person may obtain the Master of Arts degree in sociology by taking 30 hours of course credit, and presenting a non-thesis paper. The extra courses represented in the non-thesis option are recommended for students who were not undergraduate majors in sociology. Extra courses may also benefit those interested in teaching at the junior college level. There is also the practical consideration that the non-thesis option is more likely to be completed in a timely manner than the thesis option. Finally, students who find writing difficult, or students who have received two or more grades of B or a grade of C in their graduate courses may wish to do the non-thesis option. By pursuing the non-thesis option, a student can still opt for the thesis option as late as their last semester without taking extra courses. On the other hand, those taking thesis writing courses in their third semester may have to take extra courses to complete the non-thesis option.

General Sociology Internship Plan

This Option is a natural extension of our “non-thesis” program as it focuses on students who do not intend to continue their education or work in an academic setting. An internship will allow these students to 1) gain job related experience that may help in post-degree employment and 2) see firsthand how sociology can be utilized/applied to these types of settings.

Students will take knowledge gained in coursework and apply it to their internship site. This will involve applying sociological theories, concepts, and methodological tools to "real-world" situations and organizations. This may include: assessment/evaluation of organization or program(s) within the organization, development and implementation of program(s), or applying sociological principles to organizational setting, goals, or interactions/structure.

This Option will be available to graduate students only and requires additional assignment of relevant readings related to internship site (not required of our undergraduate interns).

Admission

Required GPA

• Cumulative: 2.75 or
• Last 2 years: 3.00

Admission Requirements

• Transcripts
• Goals Statement/Statement of Purpose (at least 2 pages)
• Three Academic Letters of Recommendation
• Writing Sample (standard: 7-10 pages)
• GRE not required, but suggested

Application Deadlines

Admissions: Domestic students are admitted on a rolling basis in Fall and Spring. International students must follow the application due dates posted on School of Graduate Studies website—usually April 1st for Fall Intake and August 15th for Spring Intake every year (see http://www.wiu.edu/graduate_studies/international/index.php)

Assistantships: Domestic and International Students who wish to be considered for an assistantship need to file a separate assistantship application when they apply for regular admission. See http://www.wiu.edu/graduate_studies/prospective_students/gainfo.php).

In addition to regular materials entailed in the admission application (e.g., transcript), a full “Review Package” (see section below) needs to be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies for the review of the Graduate Committee. All application materials will first be centrally processed by the WIU School of Graduate Studies before they reach the department’s Graduate Committee in Sociology for review. Early, complete packages may have advantages over incomplete, late application package. The following dates are the ideal dates for the department to receive the Review Package from new students.

• Fall Semester - February 15
• Spring Semester - August 15

Review Package

• Statement of purpose/goals statement, transcripts, letters of recommendation, and writing sample
• The Letters of Recommendation for the program will be needed before a decision is made.
  • Those who are applying for Graduate Assistantships must have their writers address both abilities for graduate studies as well as fitness for a graduate assistantship.
  • Those who are NOT applying for Graduate Assistantships are still required to submit Letters for Admission addressing abilities for graduate studies.
  • Ideally, only three letters are needed, not six.
• The Writing Sample should demonstrate some degree of sociological understanding of an issue or topic of students’ choosing.
  • Past work for a class, seminar, an honor's thesis, capstone, or original work geared toward the application will be sufficient. Samples typically fall between 7 and 10+ pages in length. Longer writing samples such as full-length published articles or complete theses are also acceptable (they do not need to be trimmed). The Writing Sample must be separate from the Statement of Purpose/Goals Statement.

Submission Method and Update

The School of Graduate Studies is a central body in WIU that processes all matters and materials related to graduate admissions; individual departments then access the central archive/repository.

The link to their application site is: http://www.wiu.edu/graduate_studies/prospective_students/classification.php

Review package materials should be sent by email to Grad-Office@wiu.edu. This includes students who wish to update their existing package with new materials (e.g., updated transcript, new writing sample, etc., updated resume, etc.)

Assistantships

Graduate assistantships provide a number of benefits for students, the most obvious and immediate of which is financial. Graduate assistantships consist of a waiver of tuition and some fees and a cash stipend paid during awarded semesters. Few graduate assistantships are available for the summer, although regular assistantships may include a tuition and fee waiver for classes taken during the summer.

Graduate assistantships also provide interpersonal benefits. Assistants work more closely with faculty than other graduate students. The university provides assistants with an office where they can congregate. Graduate assistants often compose the most active cohort in graduate student associations. Finally, graduate assistants work closely with faculty establishing both personal and professional bonds that may last for years.

Recipients of graduate assistantships are expected to;

• perform between 13 and 20 hours per week
• carry an academic load of nine hours, or three courses, per semester
• remain in academic good standing
• accept no additional employment at the university

Assuming the recipient meets his/her assistantship obligations and maintains good academic standing, assistantships can be awarded for a maximum of four semesters, the duration of the program.

Types of Assistantships

Assistantships support faculty in their teaching and research. Students holding teaching assistantships proctor and score exams in undergraduate classes, keep class attendance records, tutor undergraduate students, locate library materials for faculty, and many other tasks deemed relevant to the support of undergraduate teaching. In turn, faculty are expected to view assigned tasks as furthering the sociological education and skills of the assistant. Therefore, these tasks entail the graduate student practicing basic teaching skills, learning to use educational software, and learning the general expectations and professional standards of sociologists. Faculty are encouraged to allow assistants to prepare and deliver lectures, and to assist in the construction and evaluation of syllabi, handouts, and tests. Busy work is kept to a minimum.

Students holding research assistantships administer research questionnaires, do literature searches, enter research data into data bases, and many other tasks that support ongoing research. Again, faculty are expected to view the tasks they assign as furthering the education and professional development of the graduate student.

At Western, selected graduate assistants are given the responsibility for teaching a small section of introductory sociology. Different methods of selecting these students have been used including competitive auditions. Presently, students are selected for this responsibility on the basis of faculty recommendation and evaluation by the graduate committee. Under faculty supervision, the graduate student has responsibility for selecting a course text and preparing a syllabus, tests, and assigning grades. Teaching their own small course is a tremendous responsibility for the student, and actually consumes more than the fifteen hours of work per week allotted to graduate assistants. On the other hand, most of the graduate students selected report that they greatly enjoyed the classroom. While not common in Master's degree programs, teaching under the supervision of a faculty member is excellent preparation for community college teaching.

Funding Sources

A specified number of assistantships are allocated annually to each department by the university. The number of these assistantships remains fairly constant and depends on the overall funding of the university and the size and vigor of the individual graduate programs. University offices, such as Academic Services, may also be allocated assistantships by the university. In turn, these offices may award assistantships by way of academic departments. Thus, for several years Academic Services has awarded an assistantship to a sociology graduate student who provides tutoring to undergraduates enrolled in sociology courses.

Research assistantships are often funded by grants from agencies, corporations, and individuals outside the university. Many of these grants provide funding for only one year. A few are renewable and provide funding year by year on a contingency basis.

Assistantship Availability

Graduate assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis. To be competitive, the applicant needs at least a 3.0 undergraduate GPA and strong letters of recommendation. Graduate assistantships are not awarded to probationary students. Assistantships are generally awarded to incoming students, but individual departments may reserve one or two assistantship to be awarded to students already in the program. The intensity of competition varies from year to year, but usually there are five applicants for every three graduate assistantships.

Learn more about Graduate Assistantships at WIU.

Advising

After you have been accepted to the program, you should make an appointment to speak to Sociology Graduate Program Director/Advisor. Try to schedule this meeting via email during the first week of the semester. The Director will help you understand program requirements and help you develop choices of courses and options that will most help meet your goals for the degree. Throughout your time in the program, the Director is a resource to help you understand any aspect of your program. Feel free to email anytime, or to drop by the office as you have questions and concerns.

View the Graduate Catalog for a listing of Graduate Professors, degree requirments, and course descriptions.

Download the Sociology Graduate Handbook (pdf)

Director/Advisor

Gordon Change, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology

• Office: Morgan Hall 415A
• Email: GC-Chang@wiu.edu
• Phone: (309) 298-1056

Student Resources