Msc Enabling Social Change
Manchester, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
This course adopts an innovative approach to examining the changing dynamics of social policy and social change. It draws on the strengths of the social sciences, where staff are engaged in researching issues of poverty, inequality, and exploitation. It is designed to appeal to professionals in public sector and third sector roles as well as graduates of social science and related programmes.
You will:
- Develop an advanced understanding of how change happens, exploring the changing zeitgeist, and understanding the dynamic nature of social transformation.
- Explore the power of public unrest and state responses to the demands for policy change.
- Learn about the forces and actors that shape social change, by getting to know the work of public sector organisations (including universities), community groups, think tanks, political parties, and lobby/campaign/activist groups.
- Examine real-life examples of social change from the UK and internationally, including topics such as deep-rooted social inequality, universal basic income, (food) poverty, (un)employment, homelessness, and issues of charity/aid.
- Gain a deep understanding of theories of social change, and how they relate to the current debates on politics, populism, globalisation, and neoliberalism.
- Develop practical skills that will help you apply your knowledge and make an impact in the field of social policy and enhance your research and practice skills.
This is for you if...
- You are excited to explore ‘how change happened’ previously and reflect on ‘how change can/will happen’ in the future.
- You are interested in understanding the development of historic and contemporary social policies, addressing how we arrived at today’s policy positions through social movements.
- You are willing to critically reflect upon past, present and future policies across a diverse range of themes, including education, precarity, poverty, artificial intelligence, work and (un)employment.
- You want to learn from and work with experts and peers who share your vision, in a supportive and collaborative environment encouraging you to enable social change.
- You want to learn through ‘live-briefs’ from key external partners to stimulate intellectual discussion about real-world issues.
- You want to prepare for a PhD in a social science discipline, where you can conduct original and independent research that advances the knowledge and understanding of your field.
This course sits as a key component within a suite of social science postgraduate courses aimed at developing you into a critical and analytical actor within an evolving social world. The course is split into three core modules that address the essential responsiveness of enabling social change.
Each module is worth 30 credits, and you can study full-time (one year) or part-time (two years), with a dissertation module worth 60 credits. A Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert) is made up of 60 credits, and a Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) is made up of 120 credits. The full master's (MSc) is made up of 180 credits.
Programme modules
- Understanding Social Change
- Making Change Happen
- Applied Research for Practice
- Social Sciences Postgraduate Dissertation
Option Module
You are able to take one optional module from the core modules on the other courses within this suite of postgraduate courses.
- Changing Lives: Living with Justice and Injustice (CJPP)
- Supporting Research: Leadership and Impact (ASRM)
Upon graduation, you could explore a variety of job titles and areas, offering a glimpse into your potential career path. You could find yourself typically working in organisations as diverse as:
- Local government organisations (including local authorities, transport networks, housing associations etc)
- National government (Civil Service roles)
- Third/community sector organisations and trade unions
- Political organisations (including lobby groups, think tanks and policy developers)
- Universities and related education organisations
Within these organisations, you could occupy important roles such as:
- Policy development roles
- Advocacy and lobbying roles
- Research including monitoring and evaluation roles
- Management and leadership roles
- Advocacy Roles
- Project officer and project manager roles
- Teaching, training, and lecturing roles
We also encourage high-achieving students to apply for funding to pursue doctoral study, either at the University of Salford or beyond.
Examples of jobs held by past students include policy analysts, project managers, researchers, advocacy officers, and lecturers, with employment in organisations such as local councils, government departments, non-profit organisations, and universities.