Are you interested in working with an organisation that
- Needs to evaluate a program or a service?
- Wants to better understand its clients, users or customers?
- Is considering introducing new technology into the workplace?
- Wants to understand changes in its membership?
- Needs to understand social and cultural changes in its environment, to identify potential problems and possibilities?
- Wants to evaluate the effectiveness of a recent campaign or new direction?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, the Sociology Internship is for you!
Current Internship information can be found here.
What is it?
The Sociology Program offers an Internship for final-year sociology students, where students undertake a research project for an organisation. The project is supervised through the Sociology Program, and is an opportunity for students to experience the culture and challenges of the workplace. The Internship is the equivalent of two university subjects and involves about two days a week in the organisation you are working with.
What can I do?
The Internship is an opportunity to use the skills you have developed as a sociology student in the workplace context. Students undertake internships in the private sector, the public sector, and Non-Governmental Organisations. Some examples of internships students have undertaken are:
In the Corporate Sector
- Working in the Human Resource section of a major daily newspaper evaluating a change-management strategy
- Researching mobile phone use for a major telephone company
- Designing and undertaking a readership survey with a major daily newspaper
- Evaluating models of organisation change with a major employer in the northern region of Melbourne
In the Public Sector
- Working on designing a suburb safety audit for a Local Government
- Working with a Local Government on developing a graffiti strategy
- Undertaking data analysis at the Australian Institute of Family Studies
- Working with a Local Government on the design of Health Indicators and evaluation of a municipal health strategy
- Working in a Palliative Care Unit on developing health promotion strategies
- Evaluating services offered by a Community Legal Centre
- Evaluating a University’s support programs for international students
Non-Government Organisations
- The Brotherhood of St. Laurence – working on research and change, working on refugee settlement strategies
- The Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa Foundation – evaluating education programs
- The National Council on Ageing – working on policy development
- The YMCA – evaluating support programs for young people
- URCOT – evaluating models of workplace change
- Work on evaluating grass-roots social change campaigns
Internship Experience
Daniel Woodman
Centre for Adolescent Health, Royal Children’s Hospital
 I spent two days a week at the Centre for Adolescent Health undertaking a research project into drug related welfare initiatives in Victorian schools. While all the research and analysis skills that are learnt in an undergraduate sociology degree are useful there are other skills that can only be learnt by getting out there and doing research in the workplace.
After 3 years of undergraduate sociology it was great to get out and see what research looks like in the 'real world'.
Through Internships students learn to
- Negotiate with stakeholders
- Meet deadlines
- Communicate with groups
- Work in teams
- Design research strategies, analyse data, explore options and formulate recommendations
- Use new technologies
- Write reports
- Argue for what they believe in
The Internship is a valuable bridge between university and work. It is also a chance for organisations to benefit from the skills a final year sociology student can provide, such as research strategy, questionnaire design, in-depth interviewing, focus groups, and data analysis.
New Directions
The Sociology Program is currently widening options to include internships with some of Australia’s most important consulting companies, in areas ranging from business to public sector consulting. The Internship is also being extended into new areas of employment, in particular, Information Technology.
Who can enrol?
Students majoring in sociology, who have completed research strategies subjects, can enrol. The Internship is also open to International Students.
How do I find out more?
For further information, contact the Sociology Program on (03) 8344 6565, or contact one of the following staff directly:
Dr Tom Davis
tdavis@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Tim Marjoribanks
tkmarj@unimelb.edu.au
International Students should contact:
Mr Rohan Mahoney
International Student Adviser
Faculty of Arts
mahoney@nimelb.edu.au
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