Paul Hensel's Political Science Page

Careers with a Political Science Degree

Many undergraduates wonder what they can do with a Political Science degree if they do not want to go to graduate school or law school.

American Political Science Association (APSA) Careers in Political Science page:
- Why Study Political Science?
- Exploring a Career in Political Science
UNT Department of Political Science, Career Resources

Political Science Job Skills

Political Science majors develop a number of skills that make them valuable to employers in almost any field, particularly in the areas of analytical thinking (drawing conclusions from systematic analysis of evidence), critical thinking (questioning the evidence and considering multiple perspectives before drawing a conclusion), and written communication (expressing thoughts and conclusions in coherent writing). Unlike some trendier majors that prepare students for a single career choice, these types of skills are much more flexible and adaptable, and help to prepare students for a variety of different careers.

The following articles offer examples of employers -- many in technical fields where STEM majors, not social science/liberal arts majors, are seen as typical hires -- recognizing the value of these skills. This remains true even with the rapid spread of AI, which is quick to aggregate existing information but often misunderstands the information that is out there, does not have any way to evaluate whether the information it learns from is accurate, and is prone to "hallucinate" answers such as court cases, research papers, and facts that are simply made up and do not exist. (Damien Charlotin's AI Hallucination Cases database has identified nearly 2000 court cases as of August 2026 where lawyers were found by courts to have used AI to prepare their cases/briefs, citing many fabricated cases and misrepresenting important details or fabricating quotes from actual cases; beyond being admonished and losing the case, many of the lawyers faced monetary fines or referral to the bar for additional punishment.)

CNBC (2017), "Google Exec, Mark Cuban Agree that These College Majors Are the Most Robot-Resistant":
Artificial intelligence will automate many jobs involving technical tasks, such as an accountant's. Jobs that rely more on personal judgement, critical thinking and creativity -- skills more often associated with a liberal arts degree -- are less at risk, he says. "Knowing how to critically think and assess them from a global perspective I think is going to be more valuable."
CNBC (2025), "Amazon Web Services CEO: I told my own teenager to develop this No. 1 'most important skill' to succeed in the AI age":
Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman: "You’re going to want to be creative. You’re going to want to be good at critical thinking… the ability to learn new things and adapt is going to be just as important as any particular skill you can learn."

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman: Using critical thinking & creativity could be "the most valuable skill of the future" (...) "AI can generate lots of great ideas, but you still need a human there to say 'This is the thing other people want.'"
Forbes (2016), "What Can You Do With That (Useless) Liberal Arts Degree? A Lot More Than You Think":
Employees hailing from a liberal arts background have honed valuable skills that might be left underdeveloped in other majors. Businesses value these graduates' critical thinking skills, communication abilities, and creativity. The breadth of focus gives the students knowledge that can help them thrive in a wide variety of fields.
Seattle Times (2018), "Liberal Arts Degree Delivers Liberal Earnings and Job Satisfaction":
She realized Google was most concerned that she could write and speak well, think critically and creatively, assess problems from a multitude of vantage points, and analyze trends and data. These are skills forged in the humanities and social sciences - the very subjects our students are currently avoiding.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017), "Putting Your Liberal Arts Degree to Work":
Robert Vega, director of liberal arts career services at UT-Austin: "Liberal arts majors are able to look at questions from many different perspectives and create unique approaches to answering them. We’re graduating thinkers who will solve problems of the future that we don’t even know are problems today."

"Regardless of the industry, we need people who can solve problems, write well, speak well, bring multiple perspectives to decision-making; we need people who are good managers, who are cross-culturally competent," he says. "All of that is liberal arts."
The Verge (2026), "How the Age of AI is Making Human Expertise More Valuable":
Often, AI will convincingly answer a question but it takes a person with expertise to recognize that something's missing. Drew Garner, Senior VP of AI and Data at Smartsheet: "I saw features and bugs skyrocket from our intern class. And I found out that the AI learned it from them, thought it was a good pattern, and literally started suggesting [the same bugs] in everybody's code." The tool was working exactly as designed. It just didn't know the patterns were wrong, and neither did the interns.
Washington Post (2017), "The Surprising Thing Google Learned about its Employees — And What It Means for Today’s Students":
Among the eight most important qualities of Google's top employees, STEM expertise comes in dead last. The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others' different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one's colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas.

Political Science Departments

If you are considering studying Political Science, these lists might help you identify potential departments for you. If you are considering graduate school, though, the best approach is to talk with faculty at your undergraduate institution, as they may have more insight to offer than just listing hundreds of departments.

APSA List of U.S. Political Science Departments

Graduate School in Political Science

If you want to work in academics -- whether teaching at anything between a community college and an Ivy League university, or doing research at a think tank or government agency -- you will need a graduate degree, most likely a Ph.D.

APSA list of doctoral programs
- Questions to ask when considering a grad school
GradSchools.com lists Political Science masters programs and doctoral programs
US News and World Report ranks Political Science graduate programs (although any unified ranking of all departments -- particularly reputational surveys like this one -- may be misleading if you are considering a particular subfield or specialization)

Political Science Organizations

American Political Science Association (APSA) (the leading organization for Political Science in the U.S.)
- APSA Sections
International Studies Association (ISA) (the leading organization for international relations/international studies in the world, including many scholars from countries beyond the U.S. and departments beyond Political Science)
- ISA Sections
- Regional ISA Associations:

A few other major organizations (nowhere near a complete list):
- APSA also maintains lists of Domestic/Regional and State-based associations in the U.S., and National and International organizations beyond U.S. borders, as well as lists of Area Studies Organizations. ISA maintains a list of Partner Organizations.
- International Political Science Association (IPSA)
- Latin American Studies Association (LASA)
- Midwest Political Science Association
- Northeastern Political Science Association
- Peace Science Society International
- Southern Political Science Association
- Southwestern Political Science Association
- Western Political Science Association

Political Science-Related Journals

It is beyond the scope of this web site to maintain a complete list of all journals that publish relevant research, but these are many of the leading journals that political scientists read and publish in:

External Funding Sources

External research funding is becoming an increasingly important part of the discipline. This section includes both lists of funding agencies and direct links to some of the more useful agencies that support Political Science research.

APSA List of Grants. Fellowships, and Funding Opportunities
The Foundation Center ("your gateway to philanthropy on the World Wide Web")
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Minerva Research Initiative (from the U.S. Department of Defense)
National Science Foundation
Social Science Research Council
United States Institute of Peace
Woodrow Wilson Center

Paul Hensel's Political Science Page

Paul R. Hensel
University of North Texas

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Page Index

Related Pages

Careers with a Political Science Degree

Political Science Job Skills

Political Science Departments

Graduate School in Political Science

Political Science Organizations

Political Science-Related Journals

External Funding Sources

Paul Hensel's Political Science Page

Paul R. Hensel University of North Texas

Home CV ICOW Teaching Data

Page Index

Related Pages

Careers with a Political Science Degree

Political Science Job Skills

Political Science Departments

Graduate School in Political Science

Political Science Organizations

Political Science-Related Journals

External Funding Sources

Paul R. Hensel
University of North Texas