Social Justice: More Than Just Caring

Social justice is the pursuit of ensuring equal rights and opportunity in every facet of society. It applies to any profession that seeks to create a “better world.” Social justice can be related to human rights, environmental issues and health and well-being. This field offers a wide scope of opportunity all over the world.

Someone who is pursuing a career in social justice should have a clear vision about what changes they want to make. Consider what social or environmental issues you are passionate about.  Use this passion to forge a path to realize your vision.

What Should I Study?

Due to the broad definition of social justice, almost any field of study can be applied to it. Social justice is more than just caring; it’s taking your knowledge and skills and applying them to a specific social cause, instead of applying them towards your own gain. Below are some examples of how a traditional degree can be applied towards a social justice career:

• Law– Many former big business lawyers leave the traditional world of law to find meaning in a social justice career. Since laws regulate almost every aspect of our world, a skilled lawyer can use their training to ensure human rights, or enforce environmental laws.
• Engineering– An engineer can use their training in a wide variety of ways to create a better society. An electronic engineer can work to create inexpensive and efficient solar panels. A biological engineer can help to create affordable treatments for diseases that ravage third world nations.
• Medical– Any medical profession can be put to good use in the social justice field. They can help create and foster programs to ensure the health of low-income families, both in their own town and abroad.

Essentially any degree can be applied to the field of social justice. There are also specific social justice programs offered by many universities to directly prepare students to work in this field. These programs focus on human rights research, non-profit management and grant writing.

Where Can Social Justice Take Me?

Injustice is a worldwide affliction. Anywhere you go, you will find a need for social justice. There are a wide variety of non-profit organizations and for-profit corporations that offer careers in almost every country in the world. If you dream of traveling the world in the pursuit of changing it, this is the career can help you realize that dream.

The Peace Corps is a well-known example of a non-profit organization that puts unique skills to use for the betterment of humanity. When an individual applies with the Peace Corps, they provide their background, formal training and special skills. A Peace Corps recruiter then compares this information with their current needs in worldwide programs. A match is found and the new recruit is on their way to help create social justice. This general template is used by many non-profit organizations to place new recruits in fields where their skills can be best used.

Social justice is not limited to the non-profit sector. For-profit organizations strive to create products for the betterment of society. They specifically train their employees to create products and services that solve a specific social injustice faced by society. They use market-based approaches to spread the word about their product or service.

A perfect example is a water purification company that developed a straw that filters almost any source of water. They sold this product to organizations that then distributed them to third-world countries to help ensure drinkable water for the populace.

More Than a Job:  A Truly Rewarding Career

Srikumar Rao, a renowned professor at the London Business School, wrote a research paper that illustrated that the average American spends 90,000 hours of their lives working. His research showed that people who followed their passions and convictions were dramatically more productive and happier.

This article was provided by Edward Rowlett.  Edward has traveled and volunteered in various countries around the world after participating in many social justice programs.  He is currently pursuing a degree in Organizational Leadershipand plans on using his education to continue to help others. 

http://online.lewisu.edu/maol/masters-in-organizational-leadership

(Image provided by U.S. Mission Canada from Flickr’s Creative Commons)