Sociology Major

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About the Major

Sociology studies the patterning, problems and prospects of human relationships. Students learn about and critically evaluate the structure, organization and change of social groups and institutions and address topics that shape social life, such as crime and the legal system, health systems, education systems, race and ethnicity, poverty and inequalities, families, gender and sexualities, disabilities, and the environment.

Jobs in Sociology

• Social science researcher
• Human resources director
• Market research analyst
• Nonprofit advocate
• Educator

Past Elon Sociology Internships

• Family Justice Center of Alamance County
• Sustainable Alamance
• Guilford County Public Defender’s Office
• Piedmont Triad Regional Council
• Philadelphia Justice Project

Related Majors

• Anthropology
• Human Service Studies
• Psychology
• International & Global Studies
• Public Health Studies
• Public Policy

Sociology, ‘the study of common sense,’ prepared social justice advocate for law degree

When Mariatu Okonofua first saw the movie “Legally Blonde” as a young child, she didn’t realize it was a comedy. She saw an inspiring story about a woman who was counted out based on age-old stereotypes and how she proved everyone wrong by becoming a lawyer. It was then that Okonofua decided that she, too, wanted to practice law.

“Here’s this woman, there are stereotypes about her, there are stereotypes about the people she’s representing, she’s going against all that and showing she’s just as capable,” Okonofua said, remembering what her young self was thinking at the time. “I was like, ‘That’s amazing. I want to do that, too.’”

She chose Elon University for her undergraduate degree because it had a professional writing and rhetoric program, and she knew that lawyers needed a strong writing background. She felt the major would best prepare her for law school.

I don’t know if I truly would be the person I am at this moment if it weren’t for those relationships that allowed me to be curious enough and brave enough to join organizations and launch the protests that I did.

Then she discovered sociology. She had signed up for the Gender and Crime sociology course during her freshman year Winter Term and felt a spark of interest.

“I had never heard of sociology before, I never heard of criminology before, and it just kind of sparked something,” she said.

As she was perusing the course catalog during her sophomore year, she realized that the classes that most appealed to her were either in the sociology or policy studies department; her interest piqued, she decided to change her major.

Okonofua graduated from Elon in 2019 with a double major in sociology and policy studies, and while she went back and forth on what she wanted to do for a career throughout her time at Elon — at one point, after taking a criminology course and learning about the school-to-prison pipeline, she thought she might want to be an educator; when that didn’t spark the same joy, she considered that a career in policy might allow her to make the most difference — she knew she wanted to somehow marry her interests in policy studies, the law and education.

Her courses in sociology naturally tied those interests together, she said.

“I really look at sociology as the study of common sense,” she said. “I love learning and love learning about why things are the way they are. And sociology allows you to do it from a place of deep respect and understanding and humility for the people who exist, the people who come before you and those who will come after you. It’s so enlightening for me. … It allows me to give people more grace.”

Talking with strangers — even those who don’t share her opinions or outlook — has always been easy for Okonofua, but in learning the ins and outs of sociology, she was able to recognize more clearly the “why” behind people’s different mindsets and motivations, which she said made her more patient. And she used those lessons in her roles on campus — leading many a social justice protest or initiative, including Elon’s first weekend-long Black Solidarity Day Conference and inaugural Black business exposition — and in her research after observing interactions among female students that left her curious to learn more.

During her sophomore year, in 2016, Black Lives Matter and women’s rights protests were among the many being carried out across the nation. Listening to her friends discuss holding their own BLM march, she was in awe at how quickly it came together and ultimately how successful it was. A few months later, when there was similar buzz around campus about the women’s rights march being held in Washington, she was surprised that none of her female friends were talking about it. “I was like, ‘Why?’ So I said, ‘Let me just figure it out.’”

For her Honors Fellows thesis, Okonofua started by studying about womanism and why many Black women felt that the women’s rights movement in the late 20th century didn’t fit the needs of Black women during that time period.

“I started really thinking about, well, does it have anything to do with race? Because these Black women are women; in theory, they should be just as passionate about the women’s rights march as they are about Black Lives Matter,” Okonofua said. “So why are they not talking as vocally about the women’s rights march, and why aren’t White women trying to do the same thing and have a protest on campus?”

Her study, “In Search of Equality: Identity Formation and Activism in College-Aged Women,” examined the link between racial and gender identity formation in college-aged women and how it potentially affects the types of political action they take.

Okonofua said her research was also partly inspired by a conversation she had with Tom Mould, the then-chair of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Elon, about the sorority she planned on joining — Omicron Iota’s chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, a historically Black sorority and the first non-White Greek Letter organization on Elon’s campus.

“He was like, ‘That’s amazing; do you know the history you’re about to step into?’ and it really started inspiring my own sociological research on race and gender identity and why Black and Brown women do the things they do when they’re in college,” she said.

Okonofua said that kind of personal attention from professors helped her become as active as she was on campus.

“Elon really encourages and fosters that direct communication with professors,” she said. “Just being able to connect with, very easily, professors and administrators was amazing. Through building those relationships, I became inspired to do other things and to be as vocal as I was about student issues, and even to do the research that I did.

“I don’t know if I truly would be the person I am at this moment if it weren’t for those relationships that allowed me to be curious enough and brave enough to join organizations and launch the protests that I did.”

In 2023, Okonofua received that law degree she was inspired to pursue as a young girl. She earned a dual degree — a Doctor of Law and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy — from Boston College Law School and the Lynch School of Education. Today, she is a public service legal policy fellow at the Children’s Law Center in Washington, D.C., where she works on policy initiatives including safe and healthy housing, child welfare, children’s mental health, and special education.

Okonofua said she continues to reflect on her sociology degree in her work.

“I think just taking these sociology courses, it really emphasizes the idea that every person has lived this very valid life experience, and, yes, some people can be better … but why, and let’s interrogate the systems that are in place that have led them down this road and give them the grace and the space to be who they are,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean you have to compromise who you are and those social systems and social priorities that have led you to be who you are.”

She said the research experience she received at Elon has helped her tremendously in how she advocates for people in her work. For her thesis, she held in-person interviews and focus groups, which taught her the importance of centering lived experiences.

“I got very used to sitting and letting people talk and [learning] the kinds of questions I needed to ask so that people would really tell me what they wanted to tell me and not what they thought I wanted to hear,” she said. Through that experience, she learned how important it is to lift up the voices of those most affected by policy when advocating for change, which is what she does now in her work at the Children’s Law Center.

“Doing my undergraduate research really pushed me to center as many lived experiences and voices as I can in this work,” she said. “Because that’s what’s most important — the humanity of it and making sure people feel heard and seen.”

Curriculum & Degree Requirements

• Sociology A.B. (opens a new window)