Internships, Careers and Graduate School

Sociology students at Davidson benefit from our curriculum in choosing successful internship, graduate school, and career opportunities.

In addition to our faculty members, who serve as excellent resources, the Betty and B. Frank Matthews II ’49 Center for Career Development (Matthews Center) also provides a large number of services to assist students in finding internships, graduate programs and career opportunities.

Internships

Internships provide students opportunities to explore their interests in meaningful ways with real-word applications. Students participate in internships during the academic year and/or over the summer, domestically and/or abroad.

Our faculty members regularly assist students in identifying internships, as do the Career Services staff members. Students also may access the college's internship database (login required) and strong alumni network.

Graduate School

Sociology prepares students for graduate-level study through rigorous coursework, high-level research and publication opportunities, and individual advising/guidance as they make plans for continued study. Our students leave Davidson with the skills and experience they need for success in graduate school and beyond.

Sociology alumni have attended many of the nation's top graduate programs, including those at Duke, Michigan, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt, among many others. They have earned master's degrees in accounting, business, counseling, criminal justice, education, health administration, international development, ministry, nonprofit administration, public administration, social work, sports administration and doctoral degrees in sociology and counseling and JDs and MDs, and more.

Careers

Our graduates' interests are diverse and multi-faceted, and they pursue careers in a wide range of industries in public and private sectors. We focus on preparing students to problem solve, analyze qualitative and quantitative data, think more critically about the groups, organizations, institutions to which they belong, and consider the different perspectives of those from various racial, ethnic, class, gender and sexual backgrounds. Recent graduates have worked as program analyst for the US Department of Homeland Security, corporate strategy analyst at Vanguard, physician at the Mayo Clinic, senior management associate at Carolinas HealthCare System, social media manager at Bergdorf Goodman, senior product engineer at Tresata, director of education at Capital Area Food Bank of DC, and judicial law clerk for a US District Court Judge.