MA in Human Development Research and Policy

The program is designed for college graduates with backgrounds in the social sciences, including psychology, social work, sociology, anthropology, and race, gender, or ethnic studies, as well as those who have work or volunteer experience in nonprofit organizations, schools, health facilities, and community centers and seek to further or change the direction of their careers.

The MA in Human Development and Social Intervention offers a distinct curriculum that emphasizes the practical skills of research design and methods, grant writing, grant management, and program development and evaluation – all from a community psychology perspective. The curriculum is firmly rooted in the traditions of community, social, personality, and developmental psychology.

We teach our students to understand the social, cognitive, emotional, and health development across the lifespan, and socioecological factors that influence the contexts and systems in which people develop.

As a student in the HDSI program, you will gain the skills to:

• Describe and analyze how issues such as poverty, race, gender, and culture influence the daily lives of individuals.
• Identify and analyze the contexts and systems in which people develop (e.g., families, schools, and neighborhoods).
• Apply evidence-based research to facilitate the initiation, development, management, and evaluation of programs related to psychological, social, educational, and health problems.

In your required courses, you will learn:

• Theories of human development.
• Theories and techniques of preventive and promotive interventions.
• Theories and concepts related to culture and context in various settings.
• Strategies to conceptualize and analyze individual and social change.
• Research methodologies for program management and evaluation.
• Grant preparation and grant management.

Our alumni hold positions such as:

• Research project directors/coordinators
• Grant writers
• Research scientists
• Program evaluators in university-based research centers, community agencies, hospitals, school systems, and private industry

Upon graduation from our program, about 25% of our alumni pursue doctoral studies in the social sciences, such as human development, public policy, or social and community psychology.