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Goals and career prospects

Goals and competencies
At the end of this Master's programme, students are independently able to:

Theory: General disciplinary competencies

  • interpret and describe the concepts, approaches and methods, including their differences and communalities, relevant for the respective disciplinary fields, and to discuss these with colleagues;
  • understand the development of the respective disciplinary field and its movements, including the societal, philosophical and scientific-theoretical backgrounds;
  • interpret, describe, conceptualise and explain social-spatial processes by means of field specific (‘mid-range’) theories and/or more general social theories, with reference to the relevant structures, physical conditions and social-spatial actions of individuals and institutions;
  • recognise and theorise the spatiality and historicality and to critically compare different occurrences of these social-spatial processes, both within the Netherlands as well as abroad.

Theory: Competencies in scientific theory

  • evaluate the scientific theories, relevant for the respective disciplinary fields, regarding their ontological and epistemological assumptions and regarding their internal consistency, empirical validity and societal relevance;
  • contribute to the improvement and further development of these scientific theories;

Research: Methodological competencies

  • design original and scientifically valid and problem oriented theory-led empirical research by formulating a social-spatial problem, a corresponding research objective, and by deriving concrete research questions from this problem, and selecting an appropriate method and underpin the choices made therein;
  • conduct the research by collecting and analysing the necessary data and formulate and evaluate conclusions by using theories, scientific methods and techniques relevant to the specific disciplinary field;
  • contribute with this research to the advancement of knowledge in this specific disciplinary field;
  • critically evaluate the potential and the of this research.

Application: Policy competencies

  • recognise social-spatial problems and identify the relevant social-spatial policy and relevant policy actors;
  • critically analyse and evaluate the practice and the spatial and societal consequences of specific social-spatial policy at various scales in the Netherlands and abroad;
  • formulate proposals, based on scientific research, that can provide a relevant contribution to solving concrete social-spatial problems;
  • evaluate of the effects of implemented policy on social-spatial developments.

Communication: Communication competencies

  • communicate in a professional way, verbally and in writing, with a wide range of networks of people and groups;
  • work together in a professional and goal-oriented way in a wide range of social settings (interdisciplinary teams of experts, consultation and negotiation), taking into consideration other individuals' standpoints, positions and values.

Reflection: Personal competencies

  • develop one’s own social and intellectual skills to stay abreast of changing social circumstances and to embrace the values and norms of a responsible academic professional;
  • discuss one’s own position with respect to social-spatially-relevant societal developments and problems;
  • act effectively in a wide range of situations by linking together insights, skills and attitudes and being able to reflect on this process;
  • reflect ethically on and account for your own scientific research.

Career prospects 
The career prospects for the Master’s programme in Human Geography differ depending on which Master’s specialisation you choose:  Conflicts, Territories and IdentitiesCultural Geography and TourismNew Economic Geographies, Ecologies and Business InnovationEurope: Borders, Identity and GovernanceGlobalisation, Migration and Development and Urban and Cultural Geography.

Radboud University also offers an advanced post-Master's programme, which qualifies students to become fully an accredited geography high school teacher in the Netherlands, and to become highly competent in knowledge communication in general. For more information about the programme, please visit the website of the Radboud Docenten Academie. In all cases, career prospects are positive and traditionally geographers do better on the labour market than a number of similar disciplines, partly because geography is a very broad discipline, making them flexible professionals which are of use in multiple fields, and making them suited to address multi-dimensional complex problems; partly also because geographers usually have a pragmatic attitude seeking to contribute to practical and societal relevant issues. Finally the mandatory research internship, and dual study mode, also provides students with first professional experiences, which are often positively acknowledged by future employers, irrespective if these are political institutions, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, commercial companies, international-organisations or educational or research institutions. Given the high ambitions of our programme we seek to prepare our students not just for their first job, but also for leading positions later in their career.

Radboud Career Service
Radboud Career Service helps students with finding internships, gives career advice and can offer tips and guidance when applying for jobs.