Pathway to Policy Developer

[gwenniequ]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forums. I don't know who to go to discuss about my situation. I will be graduating with a M.Ed in educational leadership and policy studies (2 years). My goal is to get involved in policy making and development. I have a problem. My program did not exactly prepared me to do quantitative research methods in the social studies, nor did it have any math-based components/core competencies such as statistics and economics (other than higher education economics and finance). When I go through job forums for policy analyst positions, they were all looking for someone who has a public policy degree with an economics and statistic background or a background in strong quantitative research skills, and to beat a dead horse, bilingual in French. I looked around and checked that University of Surrey, University of Manchester, London School of Economics, and NYU have a master in Applied Statistics for Social Science Research.

A bit about myself:

• 25 years old
• B.A. (honours) in humanities
• Chinese ethnicity
• Worked as an assistant (whether law, real estate, general admin, etc) in most of my working life, and I am tired of feeling "stuck".

Social Research Methods: I figured in conjunction to my education and policy background, a program on social research methods would benefit my current situation, but it is not as policy oriented, more research base. 

University of Surrey

• Program: MSc Social Research Methods
• School Ranking (UK): 8 (2016)
• Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK (30 minutes train ride to London)
• Internship: 4 weeks of work experience during the Easter vacation
• Length: 12 months (full-time)
• PhD Track: 1+3 PhD training model
• Dissertation: Yes; 15,000 words
• Fee: International students (per annum) - 14,000 GBP
• Accommodation: 69 - 199 GBP per week on campus

University of Manchester

• Program: MSc Social Research Methods and Statistics
• School Ranking (UK): 28 (2016)
• Location: Manchester, UK
• Internship: N/A
• Length: 12 months (full-time)
• PhD Track: 1+3 PhD training model
• Dissertation: Yes; 15,000 words
• Fee: International students (per annum) - 15,000 GBP
• Estimated living costs 2015/2016: 11,575/year (including accommodation, clothes, transport, other general living expenses, homemade/campus meals)

London School of Economics

• Program: MSc Social Research Methods 
• School Ranking (UK): 3 (2016)
• Location: London, UK
• Internship: N/A
• Length: 12 months (full-time)
• PhD Track: 1+3 PhD training model
• Dissertation: Yes; 10,000 words
• Fee: International students (per annum) - 18,600 GBP
• Estimated living costs 2015/2016: 1,000 - 1500 GBP/month (12,000 - 18,000 GBP/year)

New York University

• Program: Master in Applied Statistics for the Social Sciences
• Ranking (QS World): 41 (2014/2015) 
• Note: NYU is not a possibility since it asks for having a strong background in quantitative skills.

Public Policy Programs: It may make some sense to take public policy since I want to build my background in policy analysis and development. I just felt like I've wasted time doing my M.Ed. I did an informational interview with an analyst at the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, and told me that my M.Ed. helps specialize in education and become a stepping stone to policy. 

University of Toronto

• Program: Master of Public Policy
• School Ranking (QS World): 20 (2014/2015)
• Location: Toronto, Ontario
• Internship: Summer internship
• Length: 2 years (full-time only)
• PhD Track: No
• Dissertation: Prepare a written research report
• Fee: Domestic - $16,990 - $17,XXX CAD for 2015/2016 PER YEAR
• Estimated living costs 2015/2016: Maximum $200/month, minimum $70/month (I live in Toronto) 
• Opportunity cost: 2 years of work experience and salary

Queen's University

• Program: Master of Public Administration (MPA)
• School Ranking (QS World): 187 (2014/2015)
• Location: Kingston, Ontario
• Internship: 4-month cooperative education placement with a government agency
• Length: 1 year (full-time)
• PhD Track: No
• Dissertation: Prepare a written research report
• Fee: Domestic - $11,834.22 CAD 2015/2016 PER YEAR
• Estimated living costs 2015/2016: 828-864/month* (Does not provide residence for graduate students)
• Opportunity cost: 1 year of work experience and salary
• * = based on 1 bedroom, 12 month lease, furnished apartment

London School of Economics

• Program: Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Public and Social/Economic Policy
• School Ranking (QS World): 68 (2013); Social sciences and management faculty: 2 (score: 95.20)
• Location: London, UK
• Internship: N/A
• Length: 2 years (full-time)
• PhD Track: No
• Dissertation: Capstone project; Yes, 10,000 - 15,000 words
• Fee: Domestic - 24,384 GBP 2016/2017
• Estimated living costs 2015/2016: 1,000 - 1500 GBP/month (12,000 - 18,000 GBP/year)
• Opportunity cost: 2 years of work experience and salary

Please advise of my situation and feel free to add anything from your own experience.

Regards,

Gwen

[rising_star]

I'm confused. Is there no opportunity to take quantitative courses in your program at all? It seems like doing a second master's would be very expensive so I'd think about other ways you could acquire the skills/knowledge you need. You might also think about what jobs you could do after graduating that would help you get the skills you think you need. My guess is that there are jobs doing policy analysis that don't require a separate master's in statistics but focus instead on research and data collection. If you got a job like that, you could learn the stats and math you need either on the job or part-time on the side. Good luck!

[gwenniequ]

I'm confused. Is there no opportunity to take quantitative courses in your program at all? It seems like doing a second master's would be very expensive so I'd think about other ways you could acquire the skills/knowledge you need. You might also think about what jobs you could do after graduating that would help you get the skills you think you need. My guess is that there are jobs doing policy analysis that don't require a separate master's in statistics but focus instead on research and data collection. If you got a job like that, you could learn the stats and math you need either on the job or part-time on the side. Good luck!

Hi rising_star,

The program had one quantitative course but it required a background in statistics, which I did not have. Coursera has a specialized certificate for social research methods but I reviewed the curriculum and it has a small portion of statistics (statistic inferences), and I'm not sure how employers view Coursera certificates. I know a second master is very expensive. The person I did an informational interview with told me to wait it out for 6 months and if I get nothing (I am applying for any job that I think I may be qualified, but there's not many), then maybe to opt for school. I hate this feeling so much; you know, the feeling of always being underemployed, unemployed or totally unqualified for many jobs. I feel like my education could have provided me the skill set, but unfortunately, the program was relatively easy (a few others would say the same). I do regret not going to French immersion, or applying for a bunch of public policy programs (I only applied for three M.Ed. programs at UofT). I know my gut tells me that education credential is not everything that makes you out to be, but my brain tells me that I will always be stuck doing some low job if I cannot demonstrate that I am qualified and have been credibly trained/schooled. 

I'm not sure if I can register courses without having to enroll into a program at my local university. 

Regards,

Gwen

Edited August 15, 2015 by gwenniequ

[knp]

Surely Coursera or Udacity or your local university online or night classes at a nearby community college has an introductory statistics class? Some of those options are more expensive than others, but all should be far less expensive than another whole master's! Or can you find a meetup group doing such things in a city near you? I have taken a couple computer science classes that tend to be about $100 for 8 hours of instruction by lecture in a classroom in a local suburb. Although that may be more trendy, and thus easier to find, than statistics. Or could you just buy a statistics textbook and work through it? I always struggled with math and I still found intro statistics very easy (it may be quantitative, but it isn't much math, I think), so if you don't mind self-teaching that might be an option.  Introductory statistics is one of the university world's most meat-and-potatoes courses, and there must be ways to get your hands on that knowledge without a two-year commitment. That would then give you a foundation to find more advanced skill sets/courses (more statistics? some economics? I have no expertise on what those would be), where I would suggest continuing with what worked for the first one.

I don't have much advice about jobs until then, but if you could go back to being an assistant during the day, I think you could pick up at least a good part of the quantitative skill base you need at night. Having a goal like that, even if it's not the goal you're pursuing at your job, might help you feel less stuck while you work on your skill-building project. Whether to use those statistical skills to get into a master's in economics or something (hopefully with funding!), or to be able to get your foot in the door as an entry-level policy analyst where you can learn more skills on the job, I don't know. But I think there are options that are closer to you and much cheaper than enrolling in a program internationally. You mention being worried about credentialism; I can't speak to that in your field, but because quantitative research skills are often picked up through a combination of undergraduate courses outside one's major and learning on the job, I suspect that a social science research methods master's might be overkill, so long as you acquire the skills somehow.