Learn about the types of people who become sociologists. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2024
55% of sociologists work in full-time roles while 45% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a sociologist. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More women than men are interested in becoming sociologists at a ratio of 1.34 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2024
77% of sociologists are female and 23% are male.
Gender Bias, 2024
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a sociologist and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a sociologist and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are more men interested in becoming a sociologist than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of sociologists are White, making up 50% of the population. The next highest segments are Black or African American and Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish, making up 18% and 13% respectively.