IIE MSA, a brand of The Independent Institute of Education, South Africa’s leading private higher education service provider offers the IIE Bachelor of Social Science, which opens an attractive range of career options. Consequently, it is ideal for any school leaver who might not yet have identified a precise career path.
Social science degrees are highly sought after due to the discipline’s key role in today’s globalised society. Notwithstanding the subject’s popularity, social science graduates remain in demand in South Africa and around the world. Head of IIE MSA’s School of Social Sciences, Dr Alex Asakitikpi, attributes this demand to the unique skills set students acquire during the three-year IIE degree programme. He observed that “the course requires students to work with both quantitative and qualitative data, and to understand the insights that both can provide. Equipped with these highly transferable skills set, a holistic mentality, and a genuine interest in societal issues, social science graduates become analytical, innovative and flexible thinkers.” Also, the Programme Manager, Dr Rika Swanzen, describes the attributes commonly acquired by students studying social sciences as “being able to analyse complex problems, explore and assess different solutions, and communicate their findings effectively”.
Social science is an umbrella term for many different and exciting IIE study areas offered at IIE MSA, from which students may choose one of the following core discipline combinations: Communication & Media studies and Journalism; International Studies and Political Studies; Geography & Environmental Science and Development Studies; Psychology and Criminology & Criminal Justice; Criminology & Criminal Justice and Sociology; or Psychology and Sociology
Where do social science practitioners fit in?
Just as the physical sciences aim to describe and comprehend the natural world, social scientists strive to understand, analyse, describe, and explain the human world and our place within it. For example, the IIE Bachelor of Social Science is designed to help students make sense of a rapidly changing global culture. IIE graduates are equally relevant in the professional world of work and the world of knowledge.
“The programme introduces students to a range of study areas in the humanities and social sciences. These are structured to enable students to develop the skills needed to contribute to the social and cultural fabric of the community and to become truly global citizens. Students can anticipate plenty of reading, debating, examining, and discussing issues, learning to carefully build arguments and propositions, to think independently and to develop new ways of approaching problems. The topics studied are constantly evolving, and students are therefore well placed to understand what make individuals and society ‘tick’ and equipped to discuss these issues in a sophisticated manner.” explains Dr Asakitikpi.
With the skills and knowledge developed through their social science degree, graduates are equipped to apply for positions in a diverse range of fields. These include public relations, counselling and psychological services (with further postgraduate studies), journalism and publishing, training and development, administrative positions in public or civil services, diplomacy, public policy makers, community service and social welfare.
“The IIE Bachelor of Social Science degree opens up an attractive range of career options. With skills in communication, analytical thinking and flexibility, students emerge equipped to move into a multiplicity of roles,” says Dr Swanzen.
This IIE qualification is accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) framework as an NQF Level 7 qualification: SAQA ID 90905.
