Erasmus University Rotterdam - Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Master in Social Inequalities and Change
Rotterdam, Netherlands
MSc
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* application deadline for non-EEA students: 1 May.
Key Summary
About: The Master in Social Inequalities and Change trains you to analyze causes and consequences of inequality across wealth, race, gender and place. You’ll study welfare and public policy, family and organizational influences, and both quantitative and qualitative methods. The interdisciplinary programme builds critical analysis and methodological skills.
Career Outcomes: Graduates work in policy analysis, social research, public administration, NGOs, health services, journalism and human resources. Roles include policy analyst, researcher, programme manager, evaluator and adviser in government, civil society, research institutes and consulting. You’ll use transferable skills in research, data analysis and communication. The programme fosters interdisciplinary critical thinking.
Is this the programme you're looking for?
Why are social divisions in society increasing? Are you interested in knowing how welfare policies can help to reduce social inequality? Then this master track might be the right choice for you.
The study programme in a nutshell
This programme trains you to become an expert in the field of social inequality. You will examine various dimensions of inequality—such as wealth, race, gender, and spatial distribution—investigating the complex interplay among social structures, familial environments, and individual behaviors. This programme brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective on the origins and implications of social inequality, and sheds light on how social policies can reduce it. The theoretical breadth of the programme equips you with essential skills in critical analysis and methodology, preparing you to address these pressing societal challenges.
Is this the right programme for you?
This master offers:
- A unique interdisciplinary perspective on social inequalities.
- Insights into the causes and consequences of social inequality, while also shedding light on ways in which public policies can reduce social inequalities.
- An examination of various dimensions of inequality - such as wealth, race, gender, and spatial distribution -investigating the complex interplay among social structures, familial environments, and individual behaviours.
- Renowned, active and engaged professors with extensive expertise
- Small-scale interactive tutorials to help develop in-depth insights and analytical skills
- An expansion of your professional network with participants from over multiple countries
The study programme in a nutshell
The programme consists of 60 ECTS. Three core courses and a thesis together add up to 45 ECTS focused on the master's programme specialisation Social Inequalities and Change. The remaining 15 ECTS are devoted to a methods course and an elective. Please click on one of the courses in the programme overview below to see the course descriptions.
Electives
The programme features one elective in block 2, but an elective can also be selected from courses offered in other master’s specialisations in Sociology.
Mode of education
Each core course is composed of a series of lectures and small-scale tutorials. The lectures present the main theoretical and empirical insights about the topic of the course. In the tutorials, students learn to analyse and apply these insights by discussing and presenting various assignments in small groups.
After the completion of this Master’s programme you will:
- Have developed theoretical awareness of different conceptions of the meaning of inequality.
- Be able to apply an interdisciplinary theoretical framework to analyse issues of social inequality.
- Have in-depth insight into the complex interplay between individual behaviour, family environment, organisational characteristics and social structure.
- Be able to assess the impact of changes on the macro-level (e.g. policy changes such as those aiming at higher levels of individual responsibility; parental leave) on individual life courses and outcomes (e.g. employment, health, and socioeconomic status).
- Be able to illustrate how the institutions of welfare states and the labour market mitigate social risks while they simultaneously produce new social risk (often as unintended consequences).
- Have critical, analytical and methodological skills with which you can deploy your specialist expertise in a clear, efficient and effective manner.
- Have developed transferable skills in research, analysis and communication, as well as in-depth knowledge that can be applied across a range of domains and contexts.
The master programme Social Inequalities is a comprehensive and wide-ranging programme. It provides an introduction to a range of interdisciplinary approaches to the social scientific analysis of social inequalities. This master programme prepares you for policy, research and applied careers:
- in the government sector;
- at NGOs;
- in politics;
- in public administration;
- at social and health services
- in journalism and (human resource) management.
The programme will enable you to develop theoretical awareness of different conceptions of the meaning of inequality. It introduces you to different methods that can be applied to measure inequality, both quantitative and qualitative. In addition, this programme equips you with in-depth insight in the complex interplay between individual behaviour, family environment, organisational characteristics and social structure. The interdisciplinary nature of the programme provides you with critical, analytical and methodological skills. Thus, you are able to deploy your specialist expertise in a clear, efficient and effective manner. You will develop transferable skills in research, analysis and communication. Furthermore you develop in-depth knowledge you can apply across a range of domains and contexts.
After graduation
After the completion of this master programme you will:
- have developed theoretical awareness of different conceptions of the meaning of inequality;
- be able to apply an interdisciplinary theoretical framework to analyse issues of social inequality;
- have in-depth insight in the complex interplay between individual behaviour, family environment, organisational characteristics and social structure;
- be able to assess the impact of changes on the macro level on individual life courses and outcomes;
- be able to illustrate how public policies and institutions mitigate social risks while they simultaneously produce new ones (often as unintended consequences);
- have critical, analytical and methodological skills with which you can deploy your specialist expertise in a clear, efficient and effective manner;
- have transferable skills in research, analysis and communication, as well as in-depth knowledge that can be applied across a range of domains and contexts.
Is this the right programme for you?
In this society studies programme, we want to understand the complex interplay between social structure, family environment and individual behaviour. Therefore, it is important to bridge divisions between disciplines. This provides a detailed understanding of the ways in which social inequality manifests itself across diverse communities and contexts. Both at the national and international level.
Due to the unique interdisciplinary approach, you will learn to answer questions like:
- How do social divisions such as race, ethnicity, class and gender frame our experiences of inequalities the world?
- What has been the impact of the recent economic crisis on individuals' living and working conditions, their family and career choices, and on social inequalities?
- How does the interaction between markets (e.g. availability, quality, and cost of services) and states (e.g. social policies and national laws) shape family experiences and social inequalities?
- What is the impact of changes on the macro-level (e.g. policy changes such as those aiming at higher levels of individual responsibility; parental leave) on individual life courses and outcomes (e.g. employment, health, and socioeconomic status)?
- How can policies and institutions produce, maintain, mitigate, or exacerbate social inequalities?
