Education, Gender and International Development MA

Gender equality in education is a matter of social justice. It is crucial for peaceful, sustainable societies and individual wellbeing. Yet gender inequalities in education persist globally, their effects are worsened by multiple contemporary injustices related to climate, environmental, political, economic, and health issues. If you want to deepen your knowledge and build expertise in this area, the Education, Gender and International Development MA is for you. This interdisciplinary course will expand your understanding of deep-rooted, systemic barriers to gender equality in education, develop your capability to critically evaluate policies, practices and scholarship, and equip you with skills to work for transformative change. Gender inequalities in education impact everyone. But their impacts are felt most acutely by the world’s poorest, most marginalised and most vulnerable people and communities. This MA course will provide you with crucial tools to understand, critique and respond to the many issues, practices, policies and theories that support or hinder vital progress towards gender equality in and through education within and across a wide range of contexts. You will explore how different ideas and everyday practices shape how we consider, reinforce, challenge or change forms of gender discrimination and injustice, how people experience them and what the role of education is. You will consider how different educational spaces and systems – formal, non-formal or informal – are shaped by different values, histories and struggles of individuals, institutions, communities and countries. And you will gain understanding of how different framings of international development have prompted different actions and mobilisations around education and gender equality. This course can be studied on campus, online (distance), or a combination of both (mixed mode). You will need to select the relevant mode of study at point of application. Note that distance and mixed mode options are not available to students applying for a student visa. This course is suited to professionals with an interest in gender, education and development, who would like to reflect and build on their experience of working in these areas. This programme is also available on a modular (flexible) basis, with a duration of 5 calendar years.

The minimum requirement for entry to this programme is a second class Bachelor’s degree from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. As the academic content on this MA programme is demanding, we are particularly looking for applicants who can demonstrate commitment to, knowledge of and genuine interest in issues relating to gender, education and international development. Applicants will normally have a minimum of six months’ relevant work experience in a low- or middle-income country. Applicants who do not meet these criteria will occasionally be considered on the basis of an excellent personal statement that clearly demonstrates how other experience relating to gender, education and/or international development supports their application.