Human development is the study of the physical, psychological, emotional, behavioral and social changes people undergo as they age. Coursework includes all stages of life, including infant and early childhood development, adolescence, adulthood and old age. Students not only study the changes people experience as they age and the mechanisms that drive these changes, but they also study the way their interaction with the world around them evolves and affects them through life. This comprehensive approach to studying all aspects of aging exposes students to a wide range of subjects including human biology, cognitive and emotional development, family issues, the needs of the elderly and more. Graduates with a B.S. in Human Development are well positioned for career areas including social work, child and family advocacy and health care-related fields.
Because of the numerous academic areas human development encompasses, these programs tend to be interdisciplinary. Coursework can include psychology, sociology, biology and gerontology. Each of these disciplines only explains the aging process from a single perspective or focuses primarily on an individual stage of life independent of the others. The field of human development seeks to bring them together, offering a more complete picture of why and how people change over the course of their lifetimes. This helps students better understand these changes, positioning them to have a positive impact in people’s lives at every stage.
Because of the interdisciplinary nature of these programs, students might choose from many careers after earning a Bachelor of Science in Human Development. Human services career areas include marriage and family counseling, social work, youth and family services, mental health counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, day care, health care and elderly care. Human development graduates might also pursue more advanced study in individual disciplines such as psychology or psychiatry.
Fields related to human development are projected to grow significantly in the coming years. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of jobs for marriage and family therapists is projected to grow by 41 percent between 2010 and 2020 compared to 14 percent for all occupations. The number of jobs for mental health counselors is projected to grow by 36 percent and the number of jobs for social workers is projected to grow by 25 percent. A multitude of factors are driving the growth of these occupations as well as human development programs, including a growing elderly population, an increase in dual-earner and single-parent families, drug abuse and alcoholism, and social and economic pressures facing young adults.