Childhood Studies

Childhood studies is a multidisciplinary field that examines children's lives, experiences, rights, and development from a range of perspectives, including sociology, psychology, education, law, and policy. It is a discipline that takes children seriously as social agents with their own experiences and perspectives, rather than simply as objects of adult concern, and it asks critical questions about how childhood is constructed differently across cultures and historical periods, and what conditions enable children to flourish.

At the University of Sunderland, this three-year full-time programme explores both global and local issues relating to children and childhood, developing your critical thinking, communication, and teamwork skills alongside specialist knowledge of child development, child welfare, children's rights, and the policies and services that shape children's lives. You will examine how poverty, inequality, family structure, and cultural context affect children's experiences, and you will develop the analytical tools to evaluate research and policy evidence critically. The programme engages with the real-world contexts in which children's services professionals operate, and the university's employer partnerships and professionally focused approach improve your career options and professional readiness.

Graduates from childhood studies programmes work in early years settings, schools, social care, health visiting, youth work, family support services, and children's policy and research. Many graduates go on to further professional training, including postgraduate qualifications in social work, teaching, educational psychology, or early childhood education. The broad analytical and interpersonal skills the degree develops also transfer well into related areas of the public and voluntary sectors where understanding of children and families is valued.

Further academic study, including postgraduate research degrees in childhood studies, social policy, or education, is available for those who wish to pursue scholarly careers.