MSc Development Studies with reference to Gender SOAS University of London

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or part-time

Applicants apply for the MSc Development Studies programme but can decide to follow the Gender Pathway upon arrival by choosing the combination of modules required for this pathway (see Structure tab).

We welcome applications from those who have worked in a broad field of development, but also from students without relevant work experience who can demonstrate a strong interest in, and understanding of, development issues in Gender.

Students taking the Gender Pathway will develop a specialist understanding of Development Studies in the context of Gender. SOAS' recognised strengths in this area, including the establishment of the SOAS Centre for Gender Studies, makes this a unique and exciting opportunity for those interested in development and gender.

Students on this programme are encouraged to write their dissertation on a Gender topic of their choice. This will enable them to reflect on their learning throughout their studies and apply this to a Gender-related topic

Part-time study

Students can take this programme part-time for over 2 or 3 years. Students usually complete their core modules in Year 1 and their option modules and dissertation in subsequent years.

Structure

Students must take 180 credits per year comprised of 120 taught credits (including core, compulsory and optional modules) and a 60 credit dissertation.

• Core modules: A core module is required for the degree programme, so must always be taken and passed before you move on to the next year of your programme.
• Compulsory modules: A compulsory module is required for the degree programme, so must always be taken, and if necessary can be passed by re-taking it alongside the next year of your programme.
• Optional modules: These are designed to help students design their own intellectual journey while maintaining a strong grasp of the fundamentals.

Dissertation

• Dissertation in Development Studies

Core Modules

• Theory, policy and practice of development
• Political Economy of Development

Compulsory Modules

• Feminist Political Economy and Global Development
• Gender and Development

Optional Modules

Choose module(s) to the total value of 30 credits from:

• module(s) from the Development Studies list below to the value of 30 credits
• open option modules to the value of 30 credits from another department
• module from the Development Studies list below to the value of 15 credits
• open option modules to the value of 15 credits from another department

List of Modules (subject to availability)

• Agrarian Development, Food Policy and Rural Poverty
• Aid and Development
• Battlefields of Method: Approaches to International Development Research
• Borders and Development
• Cities and Development
• Civil society, social movements and the development process
• Development Practice
• Environment, Governance and Development
• Energy Transition, Nature, and Development in a Time of Climate Change
• Famine and food security
• Fundamentals of research methods for Development Studies
• Global Commodity Chains, Production Networks and Informal Work
• Global Health and Development
• Issues in Forced Migration
• Marxist Political Economy and Global Development
• Migration and Policy
• Natural resources, development and change: putting critical analysis into practice
• Neoliberalism, Democracy and Global Development
• Problems of Development in the Middle East and North Africa
• Security
• The Working Poor and Development
• Labour, Activism and Global Development
• Water and Development: Commodification, Ecology and Globalisation (Development Studies)
• Water Justice: Rights, Access and Movements (Development Studies)

Important notice

The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session.

Employment

A postgraduate degree from the Department of Development Studies at SOAS will further develop your understanding of the world, other peoples’ ways of life and how society is organised, with an emphasis on transferable analytical skill. These skills have been of great benefit to the many graduates who have taken up professional careers in development in international organisations,

government agencies and non-government organisations. This, in addition to your detailed subject knowledge, will also equip you with a set of other specific skills, including: critical skills; the ability to research extensively; a high level of cultural awareness; and the ability to solve problems.

Graduates have gone on to work for a range of organisations including:

• Amnesty International
• BBC World Service
• British Embassy Brussels
• Department for International Development
• Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
• Embassy of Japan
• Government of Pakistan
• Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• KPMG LLP
• National Health and Medical Research Council
• Overseas Development Institute
• Oxfam
• Public Sector Reform Unit - Government of Sierra Leone
• Republic of Mozambique National Parliament
• Royal Norwegian Embassy
• Save the Children UK
• The World Bank
• Thinking Beyond Borders
• U.S. Department of State
• UN World Food Programme
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees
• WaterAid

Types of roles that graduates have gone on to do include:

• Chief Economist
• Global Communications Director
• Director for Climate Change and Environment
• Head of Research and Consultancies
• Development Director
• Regional OVC programme coordinator
• Head of Operations
• Country Director
• Bureau Chief
• Desk Officer on Pakistan Affairs
• Policy Analyst
• Partnership Liaison Officer
• Fundraising and Communications Manager
• Development Policy Officer
• Environmental Economist
• Journalist
• Human Rights Officer
• Country Director - Indonesia
• Relationship Banker - Africa Desk
• Policy Analyst/Economist