Course details

Summary

Take your study of sociology to the next level

With Massey’s Master of Arts (Sociology) you can build on your undergraduate interests

What is it Like?

Sociology is about understanding and describing our local society and its global setting. Sociologists are interested in almost all aspects of the social world and in your MA (Sociology) you’ll consider questions such as:

• How is society structured?
• How is society changing?
• What divides or unites social groups?
• What causes the inequalities we see in society?
• How does power operate?

With a Massey MA (Sociology) you’ll ask challenging questions about how power structures function in the social world. You’ll study culture, ethnicity, class, inequality, gender, mass media, politics, environment, social change and individual and group interactions.

Careers

Your Master of Arts (Sociology) will give you the knowledge and competencies you need to start your career as a policy analyst, researcher or community development organiser. You ‘ll learn a range of intellectual and practical skills that will stand you in good stead in the job market.

Loads of career options

This qualification opens up a world of opportunity to be involved in influencing a broad number of social issue outcomes such as healthy housing, youth development, Maori wellbeing, health promotion, or gender analysis of policy. You’ll approach this not only from the perspective of government and local-body policy, but also from the perspectives of local communities and community organisations.

You’ll learn to apply your critical sociology analysis skills to a number of decision-making scenarios, for better social outcomes. This could take many forms including policy development, project planning, legal submissions or strategic organisational management.

You could work in areas such as:

• Research
• Communications
• Project management
• Governance
• Charitable trusts
• Social marketing
• Journalism
• Advocacy
• Teaching and lecturing
• Policy analysis - public, private and third sector (non-government organisations, public-private partnerships, not-for-profit, voluntary and charity organizations)
• Youth development
• Community development
• Politics
• Government agencies - local, regional and central
• NGOs - housing, Maori land trusts, health service providers, disability advocacy and support, youth development

Master of Arts (Sociology) structure

Courses to the value of 180 credits consisting of 120 credits of taught courses and a Research Report (Coursework pathway) or a combination of taught courses and a 90-120 credit thesis (Research pathway) as outlined below.

At least a B grade average is required in the first 60 credits of courses completed in Part One for progression to Part Two - Coursework Pathway.

At least a B+ grade average is required in the first 60 credits of courses completed in Part One for progression to Part Two - Research Pathway.

Students who successfully complete Part One but do not meet the minimum grade average for progression will exit with a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts.

Entry criteria

Admission to this programme is open to student who have:

• A completed BA degree with a major in Sociology or
• A completed Bachelor’s degree with a minor in Sociology followed by a Graduate Certificate in Arts endorsed in Sociology; or
• A completed Bachelor’s degree followed by a Graduate Diploma in Arts in Sociology;

Students must achieve at least a B average in their 200 and 300-level Sociology courses.
Students who have completed the following postgraduate qualifications may be eligible for direct entry to part two of the Master of Arts, completing 120 credits:

• A Bachelor of Arts(Honours) endorsed in Sociology or
• a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts endorsed in Sociology.

At least a B+ grade average is required for entry to the Research Pathway. A B grade average across the 700-level courses is required for entry to the Coursework Pathway.

English language requirements:

• IELTS score of 6.5 (no band less than 6.0)
• TOEFL iBT score of 90 overall (min 20 in Writing)
• PTE Academic score of 58 Overall (min 50 in communicative skills)
• Cambridge English score of 180