It’s time to stop hating on social sciences

If you do a social science, you’ll know the drill. You meet someone in Sobar, Oceana, or on campus and they ask what you study. If the reply is sociology, psychology, anthropology, human geography (etc), it is always met with the same condescending "Oh, that’s nice" whilst they wonder how to communicate with someone as intellectually inept as us.

But what is the issue with social sciences? If I had a pound for every time someone told me "It’s not a real science though” I could pay off my entire student debt in under a year.

The main issue for most people is the maths. It is assumed that in order to claim the title of a "science", we need to do as many calculations as a mechanical engineer. We may not do this, but most of our degrees contain a lot of theories and statistics used to help us solve problems relevant to our everyday lives. If you had to work out an ANOVA stats test by hand, you’d pipe down. It’s called a science for a reason.

Ew

Another thing is degree hours. Everyone thinks because we are not stuck in a lecture for 45 hours a week that we don’t work as hard. But we do. When your subject is a blend of essay writing and scientific and cultural theories, there is always something we need to get on with. Not to mention the coursework or research we need to complete in order to get the credits we need.

The number of times people assume they know just as much as us because they took a social science at GCSE or A level is actually offensive. It is not the same. Trust me. Most people who did Spanish up to year 9 can’t say they’re fluent, and it’s the same concept. There is a lot more to learn, not just content-wise but how we handle and evaluate data as well. I don’t care if you’ve heard of Milgram, or know what bipedalism means. I’m almost certain we know more about our subject than you do, so stop challenging us to it.

Look at all that knowledge

In a world of iPhones and 3D printers, STEM degrees are prioritised. What we all need to understand is that social sciences are also essential to accomodate society's growing needs. If we evaluate how people behave as a society, individually, or over time, we can develop a huge variety of products that complement our way of living, and make our lives easier. I spoke to a lady the other day who did Psychology for her degree, and now designs cockpits for fighter planes. So yeah, pretty essential.

These are just some of the reasons everyone need to stop the hate on social sciences. According to an American College comparison, social sciences actually make it in the top five hardest degrees, along with mechanical engineering and computer science. I could rattle off more reasons why this vendetta needs to stop, but I have work to do (you know, social science and all that). However, if you're still determined to carry on judging our subjects, please learn how to spell them first (really doesn't help your argument).