At Cape Breton University, we're using Anthropology and Sociology to help students understand their world and find their place within it.  Some people think that sociology is only "good for" social work.  To many people, anthropology doesn't seem to be good for anything at all.  Our graduates tell a different story-- they're making a difference!  They've used their training as a pathway into a variety of careers: not only social work or teaching, but also business, broadcasting, the civil service, law, and more.

In finding your own way, it's important to keep an open mind about career options. You'll also need to reflect upon the many skills you've developed, so you can consciously offer them to potential employers. But, no matter how well you do on the job market, we hope you'll remember that education is not just for work, but for life.

Read on to see what some graduates say about how anthropology/sociology has helped them to find careers but also to find themselves.

NEW LISTING!
• STACEY BYRNE
B.A. Honours in Anthropology, and Social Research Certificate, (CBU) 2004
Master of Arts Graduate in Social Justice & Equity Studies at Brock University

   Stacey writes about how her recent achievements have built upon her accomplishments at CBU, including becoming active in public dialogues on Social and Animal Justice.  She has built upon her CBU experience to obtain a Masters degree and plans to move on to a PhD in her field of study.

NEW LISTING!
• DELORES LE VANGIE
BA, Honours in Anthropology, Social Research Certificate
Intern, Atlantic Council for International Cooperation

   Delores writes about options for career development in anthropology by getting involved in "real world" activities; even before going on for a Master's program. As an example, she tells how her BA helped her be ready for an exciting internship as an indigenous economic developer, both at home and overseas.

• MARION CAMPBELL
BA, Honours in Sociology/Anthropology, 1993
Fieldworker, St. Francis Xavier University Extension Dept., Sydney Office.

   Marion's job as a Crisis Counselor led her to ask powerful questions about why we live the way we do and eventually to complete her education.  Now, Sociology and Anthropology still affect both her personal and professional development.

• STEVE FLEMMING
BA, Major in Sociology, 1983
Department of National Defense

  Steve's degrees in Social Science allowed him to travel the world, run his own consulting business, and now to make a difference by working to measure and improve the quality-of-life of military personnel deployed around the world in peace-support operations.

• LOUISE WHITE CORBETT
BACS (Museum Studies, Anthropology Academic Concentration) 1988
Accounts Receivable, IBM Canada Limited, Markham ON

  People skills have been crucial to Louise's success at IBM Canada. Anthropology taught her to accept people as they are, rather than try to make them accept her beliefs. This attitude has not only won her the respect and gratitude of clients. It has also helped her adjust to living in multi-cultural southern Ontario without feeling she has to abandon her Caper Breton identity.

  Sarah always enjoyed travel, but anthropology gave her a deeper and more sophisticated way of seeing contemporary cultures: others and her own as well. After teaching in elementary school, she's now in Paris, using an Anthropologist's understanding of cultural differences to teach French executives the valuable skill of speaking English like true North Americans.

• JUDY MacKINNON
BA, Sociology/Anthropology
Language School Coordinator, Taipei

  Judy's experience with Social Science has helped equip her to build a personally and financially successful career in a challenging environment. The flexibility of her wide ranging education, and its practical skills, give her confidence that she can make her own choice of profession.

Stacey was awarded a Master of Arts Degree in Social Justice & Equity Studies by Brock University in October of 2006. During the fall, Stacey taught two sociology courses, about animals and the law, at that university. Currently, she is helping to organize a conference – called “Thinking About Animals: Domination, Captivity, Liberation” – which took place at Brock in March 2007. She is also coordinating the reconstruction of the Social Justice & Equity Studies Program’s website, and working as a teaching assistant in the geography department. Stacey moved to Halifax in April to seek employment while thinking about applying to PhD programs in sociology for the fall of 2008.

Stacey's more recent achievements have built upon her accomplishments at CBU. Her Master's thesis substantially developed her interest in fair trade, the focus of her honours thesis. While at CBU, also, she helped organize “Linking Violence: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Relationship between Violence against Animals and Humans," held in the spring of 2004; and, as a research assistant that summer, compiled/edited the conference proceedings.

Plus, a reprint from the Cape Breton Post:

East Bay woman ready for five months in Chile
By Laura Jean Grant

EAST BAY - Dolores Le Vangie will spend the last few days of 2006 at home in Cape Breton before ringing in the New Year on a much different island in South America.

The 24-year-old East Bay native will arrive in Chile Jan. 1 and will spend the next five months on the Island of Chiloé as part of an international internship supported by the Canadian International Development Agency and the Atlantic Council of International Cooperation.

Le Vangie, an anthropology graduate from Cape Breton University, has been working as an indigenous economic development intern at the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island for the last couple of months. Her work, in collaboration with the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I., has focused on researching how the Mi'kmaq people use seaweed.

While in Chile, Le Vangie's focus will shift to learning how the people of the Island of Chiloé use seaweed and to identify potential uses for them to create value-added products. She will work with the Bosque Modelo Chiloé and the Williche Council and will live primarily in rural, remote fishing villages.

"I'm looking forward to living in Chile for five months and learning about the indigenous people and their culture and living in remote fishing villages with no power. It's going to be a complete lifestyle change," she said.

She noted that although she has basic level Spanish, one of her biggest challenges will be picking up the language quickly in order to communicate with the people and get her work done.

Le Vangie said she decided to apply for an international internship as a means of gaining practical experience in her area of study and is eager to learn more about the similarities and differences in how the Mi'kmaq of P.E. I. use seaweed as compared to the people of the Island of Chiloé.

"The main focus of this internship is to help these cultures maintain their traditional knowledge and to foster a partnership between these two indigenous people," she explained.

When Le Vangie returns home sometime in June she will do a series of presentations and workshops on what she learned in Chile.

I had frequently expressed a desire to return to university. But I felt it would simply take too long to finish a degree. I have no idea about why I was concerned about that, though, because I certainly had no other plans with which university would interfere. After doing so many jobs that led to ‘nowhere in particular,' I took a long-term position as a Crisis Counselor at a Transition House. It led me to ask powerful questions about why we live the way we do, within structures that we created. I often asked, but seldom had the chance to answer these. There was never time to reflect. This experience finally drove me back to complete my education.

In my first year at university, I enrolled in a Sociology/Anthropology course. I did very well in it, as in all my courses. But good grades pale in importance when I consider how Sociology and Anthropology have, and continue to, affect both my personal and professional development. On a personal level, the Soc/Anthro perspective helped me put a frame around my life- and work-experiences. It allowed me to better understand those experiences, and also to begin finding some answers to the questions that had been plaguing me so long. The answers to these "big" questions continually changed during my university years, and they are still changing. The power of Soc/Anthro to shed light on the social world and my place in it has not diminished.

Sociology/Anthropology also gave me the tools that best suited how I wanted to proceed in my professional development. I often joke that I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up. Truthfully, though, I have never wanted to be tied down to one particular occupation, discipline, or career. I have wanted the kind of degree that would allow me a lot of latitude in a changing job market. Soc/Anthro – with both its broad perspective and specific skills-training (such as social research methods) – has prepared me to do many things. My degrees have let me consider a wide range of opportunities. Job postings often require a social-science degree. In fact, I would argue that this kind of degree is more frequently demanded than any other.

I was able to pay my own way through my MA program at Queens University, graduating in 1995. Because I had worked hard and done so well at UCCB, I received two Ontario Graduate Scholarships (of $12,000 per scholarship per year). Shortly after returning home, I got my present job, following in a proud tradition of community service through the St. Francis Xavier University Extension Department. My education has permitted me to step back a bit and concentrate on community-development work, which has allowed me to continue enjoying a variety of experiences. For instance, I helped develop a proposal for a pension-type program for older construction workers. I also participated in developing and delivering a series of workshops on community-based participatory research methods for AIDS organizations in the Maritime Region. As well, I have done various program evaluations (of, for example, Family Resource Projects in North Eastern Nova Scotia), and have conducted community assessments of literacy and recreation. My Soc/Anthro background has given me the insights and skills I needed to do these various jobs.

Anyone who finds Soc/Anthro interesting or helpful in bringing understanding to their existence should persist in gaining a major in this degree. For them, there will be a lot of variety in occupational opportunities, and the lessons learned in how we might consider the world we live in will always be personally satisfying.

After my wife was offered a job in The Hague, in 1995, we lived and worked in Europe for five years. I set up my own social-scientific consulting agency, Martial Research Inc. In my first year of consulting, I managed to develop a few clients in Canada and several moderate contracts. By 1999 Martial Research employed four people working in three countries for international agencies. I led a team of scientists in Bosnia for the better part of two years; we tracked developments across some 200 social, economic, and political indicators of ethnic-conflict resolution for NATO and the UN. After our third child was born, my wife and I agreed that it was time to return to Canada. We both found positions in Ottawa: I'm section head for "Corporate Human Resource Studies" with the Department of National Defense. My people and I work to measure and improve the quality-of-life of military personnel deployed around the world in peace-support operations.

There's a considerable demand for skilled social scientists in the present economy. Departments of the Federal Government are recruiting at an astonishing rate. I myself have hired seven recent MA graduates in the past few months. Private-sector management consulting, opinion polling, market research, and other agencies are increasingly seeking talented young social scientists. Interesting opportunities will be available to anyone who achieves a good understanding of Canadian society, political philosophy, principles of research methodology, and both qualitative and quantitative research techniques, and also learns to communicate complex ideas clearly. You'll need to be comfortable with various software tools and hardware platforms, but shouldn't become consumed by these. An incisive and informed intellect of the sort encouraged by a liberal education is the key to your future. My experience at UCCB was profoundly positive in this regard and I recommend it to you without reservation.

I was recruited for the accounts receivable department because of my skill in dealing with customers/people and because of my positive attitude. I've been told I just have a knack: people respond to me. Several of my managers have told me that I build great customer relationships, and that's very important for a company that's so big on customer satisfaction. I've also built strong relationships with co-workers by earning their respect, not just expecting it. I actually don't feel I've had to work on people skills, rather, my personality has made this a "natural" thing for me. I think I owe this just as much to my education as I do my general upbringing.

One of the first things I learned in anthropology was to accept people as they are, rather than try to change them or make them accept my beliefs. I learned that everyone is different, and if I accepted that, the better I was going to get along with my peers, both professionally and personally. Ontario is a multilingual/multicultural province, and I haven't any problem adapting here. I didn't try to compare my home of Cape Breton to the much larger city in which I found myself. I didn't try to find faults. I simply brought with me Cape Breton, my upbringing, and my education. I remained the person I always was. I accepted the urban Ontario pace and the personalities I've met, and I've gotten along just fine. An open mind is a respected one; a closed mind is a lonely one.

I was disappointed in having to move from Cape Breton to find work, and when circumstances prevented me from pursuing Museum Studies. But I'm no longer disappointed, because my work experience has allowed me to see what the real world was all about, and to put into practice the art of working with others, seeing their perspectives, working in groups, getting along, respecting other ideas, giving others a chance to speak, recognizing people's strengths and weaknesses, and rewarding those that deserve it. There's a great line in the Anthropology/Sociology Web Page: Anthropology and sociology "ask us to question the ideas we take for granted, and to compare what we believe and what we actually do." This is something I practice on a daily basis. You don't have to just accept something because somebody said it. Question the things you are being told, read between the lines, look at reality versus the ideals. Those who think, question, and challenge will go a long way in the work world. The people who move us ahead are those who challenge others to come up with better ways of doing things.

The web page also says that "anthropology and sociology are useful for any field that requires an understanding of social issues and social-problem solving." For me, the workplace is a community all on its own. Everyday you'll be expected to get along with others, understand what obstacles you face, and figure out ways to work through/step up to your challenge. Every job requires that you understand others, interact with them, get past any conflicts that may arise.

There's no disadvantage to having an anthropology/sociology background. As I said, an open mind is a respected one. I really believe it's this that's allowed me to be both personally and professionally successful. People are fascinating, with all their good and bad. Take the time to learn and appreciate that. It's better to learn to understand and interact well with others than to be in conflict with them, since learned life's too short for that.

My anthropology classes gave me a more sophisticated paradigm for analyzing culture and the tools to make more thorough observations. I learned about lifeways of people more different and further away from the Europeans I had actually met. We also looked at subcultures close to home. One of my professors had studied "Tribes on the Hill," that is, politicians in Washington D.C.; he showed us how they followed their own kinship and bartering patterns. I became interested in social commentary on my own culture and in understanding the influences that shape American behavior. When you learn to analyze interactions, you're better equipped to deal with every situation, be it office politics or family quarrels.

Ultimately what I learned (from my double major in Anthropology and French) convinced me to work for change in "my own village" – rather than to work in international development as I'd planned. I decided to teach, figuring that I'd be most effective in the "tribe" I knew the best. After finishing a Masters in Education, I ended up at a suburban elementary school teaching French and Spanish, and hopefully so much more. As a teacher, you don't just teach specific information; you also – and maybe more importantly – teach a way of looking at things. I told my students about the traffic lights and bike lanes and friendships across cultures. They weren't even aware that they were learning anthropology (since I presented it as learning about differences), but they were. One of my best teaching experiences was having my students analyze the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and decide for themselves what are the most basic rights for human beings.

When my husband's job took us to France, I found another type of teaching to re-energize my batteries for my eventual return to the States and to the regular classroom. I helped start a language school in Paris that teaches presentational skills and accent-reduction to business executives. Now I talk about my own culture to help clients understand interactions with Americans. I show them the rhythm of the English language as we truly speak it. Two of my clients apparently have great fun at work mimicking the friendly American banter I taught them: "Hey, how's it GOin? So good to SEE ya." In effect, I'm engaged in what's now called anthropological practice.

My friends and I got a broad undergraduate education which supplied us with strong communication skills and laid the groundwork for our understanding of the world. After a few years of work most of us returned to pursue a Master's degree in a particular field that became our vocation. My studies in anthropology have provided a solid foundation for my career in education. They've influenced the way I teach and the kind of teaching I'm able to do. They've also enriched my personal experience and the lessons I've derived from it.

After completing a Bachelor of Arts in sociology/anthropology at the University College of Cape Breton, I headed overseas to teach English as a second language. I first went to Korea. Life in Korea was very different from what I had known. Koreans hold different attitudes towards education, the roles of women in society, and conflict resolution. It was trying at times. It was hard not to be judgmental. It was occasionally difficult not to “educate the locals” about the “folly” of their ways. But because of my exposure to ideas of ethnocentrism, to tolerance, to the emic and etic rationalizations of behavior, I coped well. I do not look back on my experiences in Korea as unpleasant, as many ESL teachers do. Had I not been culturally aware, I am sure I would be home now working at WalMart (hey, not that WalMart is bad).

Now, I am teaching in Taiwan: I have been here for seven years. The Chinese of Taiwan also hold priorities and values different from the average Canadian, but again, my education allows me to appreciate the differences, to adapt to them, and to learn from them. It is through going overseas that I realized how much I had learned about cultural awareness, and it is largely because of my educational background that I have succeeded overseas as well as I have. I am now a coordinator at a non-profit language school in Taipei. I have done quite a bit of traveling in Asia. I have a healthy bank account. I am debt free, and I enjoy my job.

Besides helping to shape my attitude towards working with those of other cultures, my major also taught me a variety of practical skills. I took a research methods course as a part of my major, and what I learned from this course has come up again and again. At work, I am involved with writing research proposals and in training students who will pursue higher education in the West, so every day I use what I learned about academic research at UCCB. Also, should I decide to change professions, I know that having experience and skills in statistical analysis strengthens my resume. It has a wide range of applications in education, health care, and business.

Since I graduated, I have been working at jobs that were challenging and rewarding. More importantly, my education has not pigeon-holed me. I feel I am well equipped to change careers if I should decide to do so. I have benefited personally, professionally, and financially from my major in sociology/anthropology. I am thankful I chose it.

(If you'd like to know more about the general attitudes and experiences of ESL teachers in Korea, Taiwan, and other countries, one of the more popular websites is http://www.eslcafe.com).