Masters in international development or internship + learning language in Asia?

[polome]

Is it better to study a master's in international development/migration studies or actually spend a year in the country I am interested in learning the local language and interning with UN offices/NGOs in the country?

I have a master's in a humanities subject not related to international development, but want to move into this area. I am thinking of doing a master's in this area, but I have had friends tell me it is better to gain experience in the country (in this case it's a developing country in Asia) and learn the local language than studying a master's. I am short on finances at the moment, and it's a lot cheaper for me to spend a year in Asia studying and interning unpaid (I have friends there) than spending my savings on a fancy master's in international development and/or migration studies.

My long term goal is to work in the non-profit sector in Asia, focusing on women and children's rights and refugee rights.

Edited June 3, 2015 by polome

[gaia12]

You can set yourself up with a great career in a country if you begin with just an internship and work hard to learn the language. In particular, you will have great ease finding work at community based organizations. There are thousands of great organizations around the world that need help, both specialized and not. Over time, you can gain experiences that connect to higher positions and follow a similar career path to those getting a masters.

 

 

That said, many major organizations such as the UN, Red Cross, etc, require specialized masters degrees plus X years of experience. So for some, a masters is important. A lot of this can be replaced with work experience, but you must question if you will find enough internships and work afterwards to compete on that level.

 

I plan to take my masters to gain more knowledge of the field. Even with a related social sciences degree I don't feel comfortable working quite yet. I also hope to gain field experience through an internship. Overall, I want to set myself up to get a job with a major organization doing development work in my country of choice, while also leaving the door open to do more community-based work with an independent organization.

 

A big thing to consider is what happens after the internship. I've worked in my country of choice twice, but both times I returned home after the contract was complete. Can you find a stable way to remain in the country, finance and visa-wise? An internship is great, but its not a sure way to remain in country.

 

In short: both paths work, but in different ways. Think about what a masters will do for you, if you're comfortable enough with the field to work in it, and whether you feel like any doors will close on the path you want to take by avoiding a masters.

[polome]

You can set yourself up with a great career in a country if you begin with just an internship and work hard to learn the language. In particular, you will have great ease finding work at community based organizations. There are thousands of great organizations around the world that need help, both specialized and not. Over time, you can gain experiences that connect to higher positions and follow a similar career path to those getting a masters.

 

 

That said, many major organizations such as the UN, Red Cross, etc, require specialized masters degrees plus X years of experience. So for some, a masters is important. A lot of this can be replaced with work experience, but you must question if you will find enough internships and work afterwards to compete on that level.

 

I plan to take my masters to gain more knowledge of the field. Even with a related social sciences degree I don't feel comfortable working quite yet. I also hope to gain field experience through an internship. Overall, I want to set myself up to get a job with a major organization doing development work in my country of choice, while also leaving the door open to do more community-based work with an independent organization.

 

A big thing to consider is what happens after the internship. I've worked in my country of choice twice, but both times I returned home after the contract was complete. Can you find a stable way to remain in the country, finance and visa-wise? An internship is great, but its not a sure way to remain in country.

 

In short: both paths work, but in different ways. Think about what a masters will do for you, if you're comfortable enough with the field to work in it, and whether you feel like any doors will close on the path you want to take by avoiding a masters.

Thank you, this is very helpful. I am very new to this field so I really appreciate your insight. I have two internships ahead of me, both with local UN offices in the country. I speak one of the local languages fluently and I hope to learn the other official language this year to a reasonable level of fluency.

 

Yes, that's true, I am not entirely what to do after this year because it is all up in the air at the moment. This resonated with me: 'Overall, I want to set myself up to get a job with a major organization doing development work in my country of choice, while also leaving the door open to do more community-based work with an independent organization.' 

 

I just can't afford a master's at the moment, but I'll be studying a postgraduate diploma in human rights and refugee laws organised by the local UNHCR office alongside my internship. I hope it will be helpful as I would really like to work in this field!

[Karoku_valentine]

It is actually better for you to do all that development work before the master. Also, once you have that local training, you might even get funded by a University, as you will have valuable working experience; that has happened a lot in UCSD SGPS (formerly known as IRPS). Specifically, there was this American guy who spoke Vietnamese because he had worked in Vietnam. He had a full scholarship with a small stipend. It is a pretty good investment if you do the internship and work, and then start a master.

[polome]

It is actually better for you to do all that development work before the master. Also, once you have that local training, you might even get funded by a University, as you will have valuable working experience; that has happened a lot in UCSD SGPS (formerly known as IRPS). Specifically, there was this American guy who spoke Vietnamese because he had worked in Vietnam. He had a full scholarship with a small stipend. It is a pretty good investment if you do the internship and work, and then start a master.

Thank you for this. Yes, I will have to find scholarships/funding because I am really short on finances at the moment! 

 

Slightly off-topic, but since a lot of knowledge I have gained of this area has been through independent reading and studying (I studied an undergrad and a masters in ancient history so completely unrelated from human rights), is it ok to mentioned Coursera courses in my personal statement/long form of my CV?

[Karoku_valentine]

Thank you for this. Yes, I will have to find scholarships/funding because I am really short on finances at the moment! 

 

Slightly off-topic, but since a lot of knowledge I have gained of this area has been through independent reading and studying (I studied an undergrad and a masters in ancient history so completely unrelated from human rights), is it ok to mentioned Coursera courses in my personal statement/long form of my CV?

 

I think you should put it in your CV and write a paragraph about this in your statement of purpose. From what I've heard from other friends studying Development and Dev professors, admissions highly value working experience in a developing country and do not expect you to have an extensive academic background in development since, in my opinion, development is a hands-on discipline. Still, something valuable is having a affinity with data analysis  (databases, econometrics, intuition for work) as this a valuable skill for any development practitioner these days, and can get an organization some funding if they quantitatively justify budget for something and show an effective evaluation mechanism.

[MastersHoping]

Based on your first post, IMO the second option (interning unpaid in the country while learning the language) is the better option.

 

It's great to get experience before going back to school (I wish I'd done so...my master's is really expensive, though at least I got a fellowship for the second year and at least it's good quality), having an intimate, first-hand understanding of the country is great, and knowing the language of the country you're interested in will always be useful.

 

Also, mini rant because I've gotten a lot of shit about this before, but in terms of language, it really bothers me when people say "language is not that important, because you have interpreters and translators." Sure, you can get by, and sure don't let lack of language hold you back, but IMO it'll never hurt you to know the language of the country you're studying and will more often than not be of use. So if you have the opportunity to learn a language, do it!