Master of Science in Social Inequalities and Research Methods

at University of Warwick United Kingdom

This comprehensive degree will develop your skills in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics.

It will teach you to abstract and simplify economic problems, both empirically and theoretically, developing a deep knowledge of global and local economic trends, institutions and policies. The degree focuses on research-led teaching and so we will expose you to research from the very start and will encourage you to consider your own research questions.

The flexible degree structure means you can choose from many optional modules within our Department, and from outside departments. These include Law, Mathematics, Computer Science, Business and Languages.

Study abroad

We currently offer an exciting range of opportunities for you to spend a year abroad. You can study in a higher education institution either in Europe, at the University of Monash in Australia, or with our partners in China and Canada. Studying overseas can add immeasurably to your personal development, future study and career opportunities.

It will also offer you an opportunity to experience an alternative university system. If you are successful in gaining a Study Abroad placement, your degree programme will become a four year programme and, assuming you pass sufficient modules whilst abroad, the title of your course changes to add the suffix 'with Study Abroad' to the existing title (e.g. 'BSc Economics with Study Abroad').

Our highly ranked course taught by world-renowned academics will help you develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to operate effectively in roles within international brands, multinational companies, global financial markets and new business ventures.

As the course progresses, you can choose modules to tailor your experience to meet your interests, development needs and career aspirations. This means you can follow a generalist route in business and management to keep your career options open or choose one of our recognised pathways in Finance, Digital Business, Entrepreneurship or Marketing. Each pathway has been developed to build your knowledge within that subject area and upon graduation, your recognised pathway will be added to your transcript.

If you choose to study the 4-year course with the integrated placement year you will work in the UK or overseas. Previous students have completed placements with companies including Accenture, Adidas, EY, Gymshark, HSBC, L’Oréal, Toyota, Microsoft and The Walt Disney Company. As a WBS (Warwick Business School) student you will have access to CareersPlus, who provide a range of individual and group sessions and interventions to help you source a placement or summer internship. You may also apply to study at one of our partner institutions where you will be taught in English.

Study abroad

Study abroad is guaranteed for students on BSc International Management who meet the Year One requirements. As part of our BSc Management with Placement Year students can apply for a study placement (rather than working). Studying abroad as part of this course is undertaken in English and opportunities are available with a wide range of partners in countries such as Canada, Singapore, France, and Japan.

This programme analyses European politics explicitly in the context of both International Relations (IR) and International Political Economy (IPE). It is designed for students keen to understand past and present international relations of Europe, and the EU, amidst times of crisis and in a constantly changing world.

The combination of IR, IPE and the EU makes this programme distinct from many others. The economic crisis in Europe, Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic provide an opportunity to explore how the EU is shaped internally and can respond externally to growing political, economic and societal challenges. This course examines the EU, its significance in and for the world system, its relationships with key developed and emerging countries and regions, and the various ways in which it engages with the international milieu on issues of global significance.

This course will introduce you to several dimensions of social inequality. You will study key topics such as social class and social stratification, work and employment, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, health and disability. You will develop an in-depth understanding of key theoretical approaches and concepts for understanding inequality, and you will be introduced to key empirical studies in the area of social inequalities.

The main aim of this course is to provide you with a thorough training in sophisticated qualitative and quantitative research methods that can be used to understand social inequalities. You will have the opportunity to further specialise in research methods of your choice in your dissertation project.

By the end of this course, you will have solid skills in research design, data collection, data management, and data analysis, and a wide-ranging understanding of the methodological and analytical aspects in the study of social inequalities.

Skills from this degree

• Ability to analyse and evaluate research in the broad field of social inequality
• Ability to analyse and evaluate theories that seek to explain causes and effects of social inequality
• Ability to critically evaluate and utilise basic and advanced quantitative and qualitative techniques for the study of social inequality
• Ability to conduct independent research
• Ability to write about complex ideas in a clear way
• Ability to understand and assess claims to knowledge made by a range of relevant disciplines

On this course you will undertake in-depth comparative and contextual study of the regulation of a company. You will look at the various ways in which different jurisdictions respond to similar economic and social pressures, examining key topics in the post financial crisis era. You will develop an understanding of the interaction between the process of globalisation and general principles and theories of corporate governance and financial regulation.

The course allows you to study the main topics in corporate governance and financial law and regulation, including compliance dimensions but you will also learn to appreciate the economic and social context in which commercial decisions are made and corporate governance and financial regulation operate with reference to historical developments.

Skills from this degree

• Comparative and contextual study of the regulation of the company
• Understanding of the interaction between the process of globalisation and general principles and theories of corporate governance and financial regulation
• Drafting of corporate governance compliance instruments and financial transactions
• Transferable skills for careers in a government agency, compliance officers, company Secretaries, in-house legal counsels and financial analysts

Our partnership with WBS (Warwick Business School) provides you with a flexible combination of computer science and business, making you attractive to employers who value technical skills and commercial awareness in their graduates.

You will develop the background and skills to develop a deeper understanding of computer science, including areas such as operating systems and computer networks, computational theory and software engineering.

In your third year you will attend Warwick Business School, where world-leading academics and industry professionals will teach you about business and management practices. You may, for example, take modules covering marketing and strategy, finance and entrepreneurship.

Study abroad

You can spend a year at one of our partner institutions overseas. We have an established exchange programme with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which provides opportunities for our students to experience teaching and learning at another world-leading institution.

In addition to benefitting from a rich cultural experience, students returning from studying overseas exhibit an international profile that is attractive to potential employers.

Our Law degrees enable you to develop an in-depth understanding of the technical and doctrinal aspects of the law, and a critical awareness of the role law can play in contemporary society.

Warwick Law School is renowned for its high-quality research and draws on this expertise in its teaching and in the range of modules we offer students. The School emphasises a contextual approach to, and international and comparative perspectives on, the study of law.

As well as studying legal judgements, statutes and treaties, you will gain valuable insights into the impact of economic, cultural and political change on law, and consider how law affects life beyond the courtroom and the lawyer's office.

Study abroad

• All students have the opportunity to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities.
• The Study Abroad Team offers support for these activities, and the Department's dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinator can provide more specific information and assistance.

The programme is designed for opening up professional development pathways for diverse groups of educational practitioners, Muslim educators and faith leaders who work within the context of formal and informal Islamic and general educational settings. The programme is also open to religious education practitioners who wish to deepen their knowledge and understanding of Islam and be able to respond effectively to the educational and spiritual needs of Muslim children and young people under their care.

Islamic Education is a new exciting interdisciplinary field of scholarly study, empirical research professional development. It has growing national and international interest among Muslim and wider education practitioners.

The programme enables students to develop critical academic competence in theory and practice of Islamic Education facilitating reflective practice among a specialist community of educational practitioners and researchers. Students will explore diverse perceptions of education and pedagogic practice in historical and contemporary Muslim societies, engage with modern educational theories, pedagogic models and develop essential research skills necessary to be able to identify personal areas of further research in the field. The course adopts an integrative approach to teaching leaning which facilitates student engagement through strategies of self-organised learning and blended learning i.e. combining online resources, platforms as well as face to face workshops, seminars and lectures.

The emphasis on the course will be on the importance of contemporary educational research into Islamic Education, especially research springing from the Social Sciences directed towards pedagogy and curriculum development. The course will enable students to develop the competence to ‘think educationally’ about Islam and critically examine the theory and practice of Islamic Education in the modern Muslim world and across the Muslim communities in the West.

Students will have the opportunity of critically examining the existing Islamic Education textbooks, curriculum and the syllabuses. Furthermore, they will discuss the educational challenges facing Muslim communities in the Western Diaspora with special reference to exploring the educational needs of Muslim youth. The course will critically examine how best to develop appropriate educational strategies to tackle religious extremism and address issues concerning the faith development of Muslim young people in Britain.

The course attracts a wider range of practitioners within the field of faith-based and religion-related practitioner education by explicitly identifying and responding to the professional development needs of practitioners engaged in Islamic Education. As such the programme, in a distinctive way, opens professional development pathways for diverse groups of Muslim educators, faith leaders and those who wish to engage with Islamic Education as an area of further academic development.

Skills from this degree

• Critically analyse and explain the origins and sources of Muslim Educational thought and practice as well as evaluate critically current theory, literature, research, advanced scholarship and methodologies in Islamic Education, Islamic Pedagogy and Education Studies
• Identify and critically analyse the contemporary educational issues and challenges facing diverse Muslim communities in contemporary Muslim majority and minority communities
• Application of research skills in developing and evaluating scholarly and empirical research in Islamic Education
• Develop competence to identify areas of research and structure personal research interests and projects in the field
• Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences
• By adopting a learner-centred, inquiry-based delivery strategy, students will develop competence for reflective practice
• Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level

By studying linguistics together with Arabic, you will explore the fascinating human capacity for language, while also building your fluency in Arabic. As a linguist, you will learn about the structure and function of language, and about relationships between language and society.

You will also study and practice written and oral communication in Arabic, and learn broadly about communicating across languages and cultures. Your skills in linguistic analysis will support your language learning, and your knowledge of Arabic will complement your work as a linguist. This course opens many career opportunities that require the knowledge and skills of both a modern language and a deep understanding of language, culture and communication.

(75% linguistics, 25% Arabic).

Study abroad

• If you wish to spend a year abroad (which we thoroughly recommend), this will take place in your third year, meaning that you will complete your degree in four years instead of three. All students have the opportunity to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities.
• The Student Mobility Team offers support for these activities, and the Department's dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinator can provide more specific information and assistance.

This degree has an emphasis on the influence of the Spanish language and Hispanic societies and cultures. The course considers the approaches to national and global political issues and political theory alongside international relations, and Spanish language study.

Your degree will be split 50:50 between Politics and International Studies and Hispanic Studies with the choice of a 75:25 split in favor of either subject in the final year. You will emerge with strong written and oral Spanish communication skills, as well as sought-after investigative, evaluative and presentation skills, gained through independent and collaborative study.

There is a compulsory year abroad in a Spanish-speaking country in year two or three.