5 Reasons to Earn a Bachelor’s in Gerontology

Gerontology: 5 Reasons to Earn a Bachelor’s Degree

• Feeling of Satisfaction
• Increasing Demand in Field
• Opportunity to Help Others
• Comfortable Salary
• Possibility of Learning Something New

There are many wonderful reasons to earn a Bachelor’s in gerontology. Gerontology is a flexible field that offers a broad range of job opportunities working with the elderly, and a bachelor’s degree can help grads obtain positions in such areas as social services, healthcare, research, and government agencies. But just why should one consider a gerontology career? The following sections discuss some of the best reasons why people choose to work in this highly satisfying field.

1. Feeling of Satisfaction

As mentioned above, careers in gerontology can be highly satisfying. There is nothing better than knowing that one’s work means something and makes a difference in the lives of others. A bachelor’s degree in gerontology opens the doors to a vast array of job options that will leave employees feeling good at the end of the day. Most everyone wants to feel like their work matters, and a career working with the elderly can be just what they are looking for.

2. Increasing Demand in Field

Another great reason to earn a Bachelor’s in Gerontology is because there is an increasing demand for professionals in the field. With Baby Boomers coming of age, more and more persons are needed to provide services to our elderly population. According to statistics provided by the American Geriatrics Society, there is currently a huge shortage of gerontology professionals, and the demand for these professionals will continue to increase by as high as 45 percent until the year 2025. This equates to a large number of job possibilities for gerontology graduates.

3. Opportunity to Help Others

For people who enjoy helping others, earning a Bachelor’s in Gerontology degree would be a terrific choice. Although the average elderly persons today are much healthier than those from decades ago, older persons still need help with many tasks, both large and small. Without the help of gerontology professionals, many elderly persons would have a difficult time completing tasks involved with daily living. Family members often need help from gerontology professionals too as they learn how to care for and support their elderly loved ones.

4. Comfortable Salary

Yet another good reason to earn a Bachelor’s in Gerontology degree is that most of the careers in this field provide comfortable salaries and excellent benefits. While the salary that graduates may earn in this field can vary significantly depending on the areas they choose to work within, the website known as Payscale.com states that the average salary for a gerontologist in September of 2019 was just over $54,000 per year, with a range of $31,000 to $103,000.

Related Resource: 15 Best Affordable Gerontology Degree Programs

5. Possibility of Learning Something New

The possibility of learning something new is another excellent reason to earn a Bachelor’s in Gerontology. Our elderly population has so much they can teach us if we only listen to them, and gerontology professionals have the opportunity to listen to them. The lives of older persons were so much different than the lives of our younger people, and listening to stories of the past can be both interesting as well as educational. For too many older persons, a loss of purpose in life is common, but when younger people listen to what they have to say, they give that purpose back to them.

Gerontology is a flexible and satisfying field that provides many fantastic career possibilities. There are also many other reasons to earn a Bachelor’s in Gerontology, and some of the best of these reasons are described briefly in the sections above.