There are all kinds of careers and fields with a social justice focus. However, it’s important to know that social justice work doesn’t just happen in the settings you’d expect. Invaluable social justice work is done by people in a variety of work fields. Advocacy and activism for social justice doesn’t neatly fit into different career boxes. Social justice frameworks can be integrated into our daily lives and are often not featured in the job description. Simply bringing social justice perspectives, skills, and frameworks into whatever you decide to do is an impactful choice you can make that can have a positive effect on the people around you. Social justice happens at all levels, in all spheres, in a variety of different ways. 

Integrating Social Justice Frameworks

As mentioned, your job title does not need to be “social justice advocate” for you to promote social justice. Social justice is integral to many career fields, but in ways that may feel less obvious. Healthcare, teaching, counseling, and social work are just a few examples. There are some frameworks promoting social justice that could be useful to you in these fields or many others; a few of these are listed below. 

1. Cultural Competency
2. Trauma-informed Practice
3. Understanding intersectionality

You may be able to find courses or even entire programs dedicated to teaching and strengthening these skills. In the “Resources” section at the bottom of this page, you can find these types of programs that are offered by the University of Iowa. These may be of interest to you either to find individual courses or to enroll in a program to supplement your primary course of study. Beyond these larger frameworks, there are small steps you can take that bring social justice into your work and life. 

Smaller Frameworks

Despite being referred to as smaller, these frameworks play a vital role in achieving social justice. Some areas that include these smaller frameworks are volunteer work, opening access to resources, education, and activism.

Volunteer Work:

• A majority of social justice organizations rely on volunteers in order to forward the their mission.
• Some areas to find volunteer work are nonprofits, shelters, foodbanks, and community development activities.

Click Here to Find Opportunities Near You

Opening Access to Resources:

• If an individual is unable to donate time towards volunteering it is always helpful to support these organizations.
• A way to accomplish this  is by providing resources that are harder for individuals to obtain. This includes donating any extra food, clothes, hygiene products, even financial aid if one is capable.
• Most organizations working towards spreading access to resources will state what specific resources they are looking for. Communicating with individuals who are involved with these organizations or finding the organization's website is a great way to provide the adequate resources needed.       
• In addition, being able to spread awareness of organizations opening access to  resources is also incredibly beneficial.

Activism:

• Spreading awareness and advocating for issues surrounding social justice help educate society of social injustices currently happening.
• Some common ways to perform activism are attending protests or speeches, speaking about these issues with others, and staying educated.

More Information on Becoming an Activist

Education:

• A key element towards achieving work within smaller frameworks is education.
• Searching for volunteer opportunities, places to donate resources, and actions of activism, are all examples of how individuals can educate themselves.
• When being involved in these frameworks, it is beneficial to stay educated on the social issues that are involved.
• More ways to receive education surrounding social issues include reaching out to individuals involved, staying updated on the news, searching for resources on the internet, and even discussing issues with the people around you.
• Unlearning stereotypes, biases, and misinformation is a key process in social justice education.
• There are several resources located at the bottom of this page that can help begin the process of educating yourself.

Within the social justice field there are many possible sectors to work. A job sector, for purposes here, refers to an industry or setting. While a social justice perspective is important in any position, some sectors are more directly involved with social justice work than others. This section will focus on comparing social justice work from nonprofit and government settings.

It is important to note, however, that the workplace environment of individual organizations can vary greatly and does not definitively separate nonprofit versus governmental sectors. Nonetheless, it is important to determine which space feels like the best fit.

Nonprofit Spaces:

A nonprofit is an organization that works for public benefit, rather than aiming to generate profit for the owners. Therefore, nonprofits rely on donations and grant funding to support their initiatives.

Possible Benefits:

• Those working in the nonprofit sector are allowed to advocate for specific policies. Even in nonpartisan organizations, workers have more autonomy.
• In most nonprofits, especially local organizations, there is far less bureaucracy. This allows projects and change to happen more quickly.
• In a public policy or advocacy position, especially, nonprofit workers must be mindful of the political environment. The political composition of a legislature does not dismiss the possibility of policy changes. It merely means workers shift the angle of their advocacy work.

Possible Downfalls:

• Funding is a primary limitation for many nonprofits. Many organizations rely on fundraising and grant writing to fund their initiatives. 
• Policy changes and completing projects takes time. That’s not to say change has to be dramatic: small, meaningful actions can cause long-lasting change.
• Workers at nonprofit organizations generally have lower pay and fewer benefits than workers in other sectors, especially the private or corporate sectors.

Government Spaces (in general):

The government is the system that determines the policy and structure of society. Within that, the government (at the federal, state, and local levels) contains many departments and organizations that provide important services to the public.

Possible Benefits:

• Government positions have fairly consistent funding. It may change year-to-year based on budgeting and allocations, but at least some sort of funding is a given.
• Government workers, especially at the state and local levels, have more of a direct impact on policy changes.
• People that work in government positions are typically well respected, which may ease the difficulty in making connections and pushing changes.

Possible Downfalls:

• The government, at all levels, is very bureaucratic. It generally takes a long time for change to occur. However, the more local the government organization, typically the more responsive it will be.
• There is a great expectation and assumption from constituents that government workers can solve more problems and get more done than is feasible given the bureaucracy and other limitations.
• In a government position, workers are (supposed to be) strictly nonpartisan. There is far less freedom to express personal opinions.

Government (at different levels):

The government at all levels (international, federal, state, and local) affects social justice work. Each creates and changes policy that directly impacts constituents and community members. Federal governments often make larger and more widely known policy changes, whereas local governments are typically more responsive and impact daily life more directly. The government sector does not merely include policy makers and legislatures. It includes, for example, government agencies, municipalities, local councils, departments, etc. Additionally, the government is often a funder for other organizations, especially nonprofits and public education organizations.

There are current initiatives (as of 2023), at all levels, both to promote and to diminish social justice. For example, the United State Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) that works across the nation. They advise the White House on ways to address the unequal impacts of environmental degradation throughout the US. For an example to the contrary, Iowa’s three public universities are managed under the Iowa Board of Regents, which is currently attempting to dissolve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Public universities are organizations within the state government. DEI is often considered a marginal beginning to implementing social justice perspectives into higher education and dissolving it will have drastic impacts across the state. Nonetheless, these examples demonstrate that federal, state, and local governments affect all sectors of social justice work.

Self-Reflection Questions

The most important part of your career search is self-exploration and understanding what is important and valuable to you. If you know that you want social justice to be a part of your life, there are many avenues to explore. Below are some questions to reflect on when considering whether direct social justice work is for you, the sectors or environments that align with your values, and how you would want to involve social justice in your work and life.

1. What are you hoping to achieve while working in social justice?
2. In what ways is social justice important to your career field and career values?
3. Do you prefer to work with other individuals? What groups of people do you work with well?
4. Do you prefer working within a large workplace or do you prefer more intimate connections?
5. What frustrates you about a work environment? In what areas are you able to compromise? 
6. Are you able to recognize your own biases? Are you comfortable working directly with vulnerable populations without judgment or a savior-complex?
7. Are you able to work on projects for a long time (government things take a while) / can you see the bigger picture?

Academic Programs and Opportunities to Explore at Iowa

To begin, the University of Iowa offers over 500 different organizations, several of which are involved with social justice issues. Please check out the university’s website to explore opportunities.

Student Organizations at the University of Iowa
This is in no way an exhaustive list, but below are some different social-justice relevant academic programs offered at the University of Iowa that you may be interested in exploring, especially if you want to expand your social justice knowledge and skills to complement your major area of study.

Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies Department: An overview as well as list of programs and courses offered by the GWSS department. Some include:

• Gender, Health, and Healthcare Equity minor
• Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies major or minor
• Social Justice major or minor

Critical Cultural Competence Certificate
A certificate program offered by the School of Social Work focused on being better able to relate to others across cultural differences and appreciating one’s own cultural identities.

Resilience and Trauma-Informed Perspectives Certificate
A certificate program offered by the School of Social Work for students with a future in helping professions to equip them with proper knowledge in working with people who have experienced trauma.

Sustainability Certificate
A certificate program offered by University College, teaching students about becoming leaders in sustainable practices across a variety of different career types.

Global Health Studies Department
An overview as well as list of programs and courses offered by the GHS department. Global Health Studies teaches interdisciplinary approaches to understanding health.

College of Public Health
Many programs and courses exist within public health that can support social justice work.

Urban Studies Minor
A minor offered through University College focusing on social justice, sustainable development, community well-being, and mobility and access.

Ethics and Public Policy
A major offered through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences that may be helpful to those interested in government and policy work.

Leadership Studies
A undergraduate certificate program that teaches leadership skills that are transferable to many fields, including social justice work

If you are interested in learning more about pursuing a social justice career or adding a social justice emphasis to your current position, here are some helpful resources for further reading:

Reflection Questions: A guide to reflecting about social justice.

Promoting Social Justice in Career Development: Six tips that are helpful for individuals already in a career, especially ones not directly referred to as social justice positions.

Social Justice as a Leader: This resource is aimed toward individuals already working in leadership positions within their organization.

Social Justice as a Community Member: As mentioned before, social justice work is not limited to the workplace. This resource provides fifteen ways to engage as a community member.

Becoming a Human Rights Activist: “With the right motivation, knowledge, and practical skills, anyone can be an activist [in or out of the workplace].”

Nonprofits and the Government: A brief description of the vital relationship between nonprofit and government organizations.

Nonprofits and Social Justice: A deeper look into the role of nonprofit organizations.

Nursing and Social Justice: This article brings a social justice perspective to the healthcare field, particularly for nurses.

Teaching and Social Justice: This article discusses teaching students, particularly elementary-aged students, about social justice issues.

Volunteer Opportunities: A search engine to help explore and discover volunteer opportunities.

Social justice is immersed within several systems, creating many opportunities for work. These opportunities can appear in both bigger and smaller frameworks, and it is important to discover which sector of work is best for you. While it may be intimidating to search for work within social justice, or to implement social justice within your line of work, we hope that you were able to find information that is beneficial as you begin your journey with social justice.