What Can You Do With a Degree in Human Development?

Adult education

Some college majors have very specific jobs that you go into after graduating. When you get a nursing degree, you will most likely use it to be a nurse. When you get an accounting degree, it can be used to work as an accountant. When your degree is in education, you are equipped to become a teacher. These types of degrees leave no question about what your career will look like After you graduate.However, some degrees have a greater range of options that they support after graduation. For example, if you get an English degree, a psychology degree, or a communications development degree, the options that you have for using your education have almost no limit.


One such degree that lends itself to a broad range of career paths is a human development degree. If the subject fascinates you, and you are interested in getting a human development degree, you might be concerned with what sort of career you could get after graduation. To help you decide if this is a college major you should pursue or not, we have put together a little overview of what your future could look like with a human development degree.

What can you do with a human development degree?
Many people with a bachelors degree or masters in human development find occupations in human services, education, and even the business field. Because of the wide range of skills that you obtain through your education in Human Development (such as leadership, communication, cultural awareness, critical thinking), you have the freedom to shape your career around what suits you best.

Map out your journey ahead of time.
The most successful careers that are shaped around Human Development degrees come from people who developed there end game goals ahead of time, rather than jumping into the program and trying to figure it all out along the way. For example, if you are interested in the human services side of human development, you may decide to pursue a masters in counseling, whereas if you are more interested in the business side, your human development degree is a good steppingstone into law school. This also helps you select a discipline within the field of Human Development and to focus on elective classes that alignment with your ultimate career goal. Knowing what you want from your degree helps you make decisions along the way that give you the best opportunities.

Shape your life around your career goals.
It is also helpful to get involved in extracurricular activities that help give you experience and build connections with people in the industry you want to go into after finishing your Human Development degree. For example, if you want to use your degree to work in human services, while you are in college, you can accept internships with human services organizations like March of Dimes, or to volunteer to work with children with disabilities. If you’re more interested in the business-oriented career, you can use the time that you are pursuing your Human Development degree to take on leadership positions in school clubs or serve on the board for charitable organizations, to develop your leadership skills. This strengthens your resume and increases your career opportunities before you even graduate.

Career opportunities for Human Development majors
Your degree in human development gives you a launching pad into almost any sort of career you’re interested in, but common careers that Human Development majors pursue include:

  • Having a bachelors degree in Human Development gives you the opportunity to: work with children with disabilities, become a student advisor, advocate for a variety of humanitarian causes, or work as a early childhood a preschool teacher.
  • Human development majors with a masters degree often: serve as leadership for adoption agencies, direct early childhood or preschool programs, work as therapists or guidance counselors, go into human resources, or work in the legal field.
  • Obtaining a doctoral degree in human development gives you the opportunity to: work as college administrator or professor, to serve as a consultant in the field of human development, or to work as a psychologist.

Do you have any other questions about getting a degree in Human Development? Please feel free to inquire in the comment section below.

Leave a Reply