Sociology And Social Policy

Sociology and social policy are disciplines that address, from complementary perspectives, some of the most fundamental questions about how societies are organised and what they owe their members. Sociology examines the structures, institutions, and processes that shape social life, exploring how class, race, gender, age, and other dimensions of inequality are produced and reproduced through the institutions of family, education, work, and the state. Social policy examines how governments design and deliver responses to social needs, through welfare systems, housing, health care, education, and employment policy, asking what values guide these choices and how effective the resulting programmes are.

Together, the two disciplines produce graduates with a sophisticated understanding of social problems and the institutions designed to address them.

At Bangor University, this three-year programme includes a foundation year that provides the social science grounding needed to enter the degree proper, a sandwich year with work placement, and a year abroad. The foundation year makes the programme accessible to students from a wide range of backgrounds, while the placement and year abroad give you professional experience and international perspective that significantly enrich your studies and your career readiness. Wales provides a distinctive context for studying social policy, with its own devolved government and policy traditions that differ in important ways from those of England, and Bangor's programme takes advantage of this context throughout.

Graduates work in local authorities, central and devolved government, housing organisations, health and social care, education, and the voluntary and charitable sector. Social research, policy analysis, and roles in think tanks and advocacy organisations attract those who wish to influence how problems are identified and solutions designed. Journalism focused on social affairs, human resources, community development, and general management in public and third-sector organisations are further destinations.

The combination of sociological analysis and policy understanding is also valued in postgraduate study in social work, public policy, or criminology.