Academic management

Sociology is a basic core common subject for all the Bachelor’s Degrees offered by the School of Economics and Business. It belongs to the module on Historical and Social Analysis (Bachelor´s Degree in Management and Business Administration and Bachelor´s Degree in Economics), Economic and Social Environment (Bachelor´s Degree in Accounting and Finance), Sociology of Work and Social Research Techniques (Bachelor´s Degree in Labour Relations and Human Resources).

The subject has an introductory character and provides basic knowledge on the concepts, theories and methodologies which are central to the sociological perspective. The students will acquire an integrative view of the fundamental dynamics and dimensions of contemporary societies, with a particular attention to Spanish society.

Requirements. As a basic core subject, SOCIOLOGY does not demand specific skills or competencies apart from those relating to access to the Grade.

Bachelor´s Degree in Management and Business Administration

The general competences that are developed in Sociology are the following:

• GC1 - Capacity for analysis and synthesis.
• GC20 - Have ethical values ​​and behaviors.
• GC21 - Integrating democratic values ​​and a culture of peace in the workplace.
• GC22 - Integrate the principles of equal treatment and opportunities between women and men in the workplace.

The specific competences that are developed are the following:

• SC5 - Understand the economic-institutional environment and its impact on business decisions.
• SC9 - Design the organizational structure of the company.
• SC20 - Transmit information, ideas, problems and solutions in the field of business management to a specialized and non-specialized audience.

The learning outcomes, both general and specific, that the students are expected to achieve are the following:

• LO9.1: Know and identify how the different ways of materializing social preference within each economic system have been combined.
• LO9.2 - Understand and distinguish the economic phenomena of the present through knowledge of the economic evolution of the past.
• LO9.5 - Know and understand the main theories on the configuration and basic dynamics of contemporary societies and their influence on the configuration of companies.
• LO9.7 - Apply the sociological perspective to the critical understanding of the functioning of companies and labor markets as social institutions.

Bachelor´s Degree in Economics

The general competences that are developed in Sociology are the following:

• GC1 - Capacity for analysis and synthesis
• GC13 - Creative ability to find new ideas and solutions
• GC21 - Integrating democratic values ​​and the culture of peace in the workplace
• GC22 - Integrate the principles of equal treatment and opportunities between women and men in the workplace
• GC23 - Integrate the principles of equal opportunities and universal accessibility of disabled people in the workplace.

The specific competences that are developed are the following:

• SC6 - Understand the institutional environment and its impact on economic activity
• SC11 - Understand and value the interrelations of economic agents
• SC17 - Transmit information, ideas, problems and solutions from the economic field to a specialized and non-specialized audience.

The learning outcomes, both general and specific, that the students are expected to achieve are the following:

• LO5.5: Know and understand the main theories on the configuration and basic dynamics of contemporary societies and their influence on the configuration of companies.
• LO5.7: Apply the sociological perspective to a critical understanding of the operation of companies and of labor markets as social institutions.
• LO5.8: Critically apply the sociological perspective to analyze problems and propose ideas that improve the operation of companies and organizations.

Bachelor´s Degree in Accounting and Finance

The general competences that are developed in Sociology are the following:

• GC1 - Capacity for analysis and synthesis.
• GC2 - Organizational and planning capacity.
• GC3 - Capacity for oral and written communication in the native language.
• GC5 - Ability to use computer tools related to the field of study.
• GC6 - Ability to search, analyze and interpret information from different sources.
• GC7 - Ability to solve problems.
• GC9 - Ability to work in a team.
• GC10 - Ability to work in an international context.
• GC12 - Critical and self-critical capacity.
• GC13 - Ethical commitment at work and motivation for quality.
• GC14 - Autonomous learning capacity.
• GC19 - Concern towards environmental, social, equal treatment, and respect for democratic values ​​issues.
• GC20 - Ability to apply knowledge to practice.

The specific competences that are developed are the following:

• SC1 - Develop skills and knowledge of financial management.
• SC3 - Issue reports regarding the company's situation.
• SC23 - Know the economic environment of business activity

The learning outcomes, both general and specific, that the students are expected to achieve are the following:

• LO7.14: Know and understand the main theories on the configuration and basic dynamics of contemporary societies and their influence on business activity and the organization of companies.
• LO7.15: Apply the sociological perspective to a critical understanding of the operation of companies and of labor markets as social institutions.
• LO7.16: Critically apply the sociological perspective to analyze problems and propose ideas that improve the operation of companies and organizations.

Bachelor´s Degree in Labour Relations and Human Resources

The general competences that are developed in Sociology are the following:

• GC2 - Computer skills related to the field of study.
• GC5 - Oral and written communication in the native language.

The specific competences that are developed are the following:

• SC5 - Apply knowledge of Sociology of Work and Social Research Techniques.
• SC13 - Ability to transmit and communicate in writing and orally using the terminology of labor relations and human resources.
• SC14 - Ability to apply information and communication technologies in different areas of labor relations and human resources.
• SC15 - Ability to select and manage labor information and documentation.

The learning outcomes, both general and specific, that the students are expected to achieve are the following:

• LO3.1.- Know the basic characteristics that define the identity of sociology as a scientific discipline and its object of study.
• LO3.2.- Know the fundamental sociological concepts and sociological theories to contextualize and explain social phenomena.
• LO3.3.- Interpret social reality from a sociological perspective.
• LO3.5.- Know the current social, technical, sexual and international division of labor
• LO3.6.- Know the theories that explain the current social, technical, sexual and international division, as well as distinguish its implications.
• LO3.7.- Identify and explain the divisions and labor inequalities.

UNIT 1. INITIATION TO SOCIOLOGY (FOR NON-SOCIOLOGISTS)

What is Sociology?; The sociological perspective; On the shoulders of giants: Marx, Durkheim and Weber; Sociological paradigms; Structuration process; Methodological approches.

UNIT 2. SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION

Socialization: concept, phases and agents; Theories of socialization; Communication and interaction in everyday life; Rituals and norms in social interaction; Dramaturgical model of social interaction.

UNIT 3. MODERNITY, GLOBALIZATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Concept, agents and factors of social change; Theories and perspectives on social change; Modernity and globalization; Cultural and religious diversity in Europe.

UNIT 4. STRATIFICATION AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES

Social stratification systems; Explaining inequalities; How is inequality, poverty and social exclusion measured?; Gender inequality.

UNIT 5. URBAN EXPANSION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Urbanization and population; Current urban trends; Environment and society: environmental problems; Global risk society; Sustainable development.

UNIT 6. SOCIOLOGY OF ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations: what are they?; Bureaucratic organizations; Criticism of the bureaucracy; The McDonaldization of society; Overcoming bureaucracy?; Economic organizations and Corporate Social Responsibility; The network enterprise.

UNIT 7. ECONOMY, WORK AND EMPLOYMENT

Economic sociology; The social organization of production; The changing nature of work; Flexibility, insecurity and corrosion of character.

UNIT 8. POLITICS AND COLLECTIVE ACTION

The field of politics; Power as the central axis; Basic ways of exercising power: authoritarianism and democracy; The global expansion of democracy; The end of History?; Democracies in troubles; Political ideologies; Social movements.

The methodology of the subject corresponds to the criteria of curricula and teaching practice which are established in the European Higher Education Area. It combines work requiring attendance of the students, including lectures (with a theoretical focus), seminars (with a practical content).

The work plan foresees activities either requiring attendance or not requiring it.

On the one hand, presential learning activities will have a total duration of 60 hours, according to the following distribution:

1) Lectures, with a theoretical focus (1.75 hours). These sessions will be held on a regular basis of one session per week. In the lectures, the professor will provide the basic theoretical concepts and the terminology of sociological analysis. Also, the students will receive some fundamental notions for the understanding of the macro-processes and structures of society, with the aim of fostering their capacity of critical reflection.

2) Seminars, with a practical content (1.75 hours). These sessions will be also held on a regular basis of one session per week. The seminars will take place in reduced groups. They will require the active collective and individual participation of the students in the exercises provided by the professor. These exercises will be aimed at complementing and reinforcing the theoretical contents of each unit. The seminars will also require the utilization of different instruments of text analysis and techniques of qualitative and quantitative analysis of social phenomena which will the basis for the subsequent interpretative debate.

3) Evaluación sessions (4 hours), in the dates stablished by the official academic calendar.

On the other hand, non-presential learning activities will have a total duration of 90 hours. This means that the academic activity which does not require students’ attendance constitutes 60% of the estimated total workload of the subject. Non-presential learning activity includes individual work to be carried out by the student in order to prepare and revise the practical exercises provided in the Seminars, the preparation of working essays, the study and reading for the Evaluation Sessions and the use of the different bibliographic, audiovisual and electronic resources which are connected to the subject. Also, the preparation of the Seminars requires additional time for pre-reading and revising the materials of the practical exercises, namely texts, graphics and other data sets and information.

Ordinary Assessment

Assessment of the knowledge acquired by students in the modules will be carried out with the following instruments:

1) Final written exam (60%). It will assess the knowledge of the theoretical and practical contents of the module, which includes a critical, mature and formally correct approach, using adequately the subject’s terminology and a coherent and orderly discourse, with attention to spelling and syntax. It is necessary to obtain a mark of 2.5 points out of 6 in the exam to obtain a pass mark in the module. When the student does not reach the minimum grade required to pass the course in the final exam, but when taking into account the continuous assessment it passes 5 points, the grade that will appear in the academic record will be 4.9.

2) Continuous Assessment (40%). Continuous assessment activities will take place in the term in which the module is taught with the deadlines established by the lecturers. Continuous assessment activities will not be repeated at extraordinary exam calls, although the mark from them will be kept for those calls.

Assessment in the extraordinary call will follow the same criteria laid out for the ordinary call.

Differentiated Assessment 

Assessment of students with Differentiated Assessment status will be carried out via a final written exam, for ten points out of ten, which will be composed of both theoretical and practical questions

Advanced extraordinary call

Assessment in the advanced extraordinary call will be carried out via a final written exam, for ten points out of ten, which will be composed of both theoretical and practical questions.

Exceptionally, if health conditions so require it, methods not requiring onsite assessment may be included. In that case students will be informed of the changes introduced.

It is reminded that the Ethical Code of the University of Oviedo is in effect and applicable. The Code can be accessed following the link: Universidad de Oviedo - Código ético (uniovi.es)

Summary Table

The students must familiarise themselves with and regularly use a number of basic references in order to complement the theoretical and practical materials provided during the course. The orientation and contents of these references are coherent with the course programme of the subject, as shown in section 4 of the Guide.

Basic references:

Giddens, A. and Sutton, Philip W.(2021), Sociology, Madrid. Polity (9th edition).

Macionis, J. and Plummer, K. (2011), Sociology, Madrid: Prentice-Hall (5th edition).

The lecturer can propose additional complementary references to be consulted in relation to a particular unit of the course programme. Finally, the subject requires basic knowledge and use of the most common computer instruments for presentation, quantitative analysis and graphic representation, for classroom practices and course tasks.