Social Challenges, Policies and Interventions Utrecht University

Overview

Why does gender inequality in work and private lives continue to exist, despite advancements in work-family policies? How do people’s attitudes towards climate change and sustainability affect their behaviour? Why does society seem to be polarising on a large amount of issues? How can we explain unexpected effects of existing social policies on people’s lives and well-being? If you are interested in these kinds of questions, the Master’s programme in Social Challenges, Policies and Interventions is a great choice for you.

If you are interested in studying such issues, the Social Challenges, Policies and Interventions  programme at  Utrecht University is for you. You will develop knowledge about interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives on social policy and interventions, which will help you gain in-depth insight into the methodology and skills needed to research social policy and intervention issues in the domain of health and wellbeing, in particular related to work, care and participation. More specifically, you will look into problems such as:

• (Youth) unemployment
• Social and cultural diversity
• Social inequality and exclusion
• Social care and participation
• Combining work and care

You will also study people's strategies for dealing with social risks, including:

• Labour market mobility

• Social entrepreneurship

• Innovative care networks

• Multicultural collaborative efforts

• Cultural diversity and integration

• Neighborhood initiatives

This will be done by combining knowledge from the behavioural and social sciences.

Careers

The Master  Social Challenges, Policies and Interventions programme at Utrecht University programme equips you to take on roles that involve building bridges between different stakeholders in a wide range of social challenges. Upon graduation, you will have acquired the skills to move around in different work environments flexibly, from research and policymaking to consultancy and training. You will be capable of liaising with professionals from different fields of research and practice. These are indispensable skills when designing, implementing and evaluating social policies and interventions. You will be able to pursue a career as a social scientist, working with government agencies, social-service organisations, civil-society organisations or private-sector companies.

Accreditation

Accredited by the NVAO - Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders.