Master's Degree in Social Economics

• Individuality: Customize your program! A large part of the Master's degree program consists of classes you select as your area of specialization.
• Depth: How does restructuring social systems impact people, how does society react to increasing pressure to perform? What will happen in the future to relatives who require health assistance and caretakers? You will be able to answer all of these life questions. We teach you how to critically reflect and give you with basic tools and methods to conduct empirical research. You are ready to meet the enormous challenges in business, government, and society.
• Great flexibility: You will be trained as a generalist and can pursue a career path in all areas of business, private or non-profit.

The Master's degree program in Social Economics allows you to deepen your problem-solving skills in the areas of business, civic studies, and society:

• Labor and employment, policy fields, social security, democracy and society, institutions and policy processes, gender and diversity, social science methods

In addition, you can choose your individual area of specialization:

• Public and Non-Profit Management, Gender Studies, Educational Sciences and Didactics, Law, Sociology, Social Philosophy and Philosophical Anthropology, Economics and Philosophy, Economic Theory, Advanced Topics in Applied Economics, General Management, Business Language, Social Science Methods

The Master's degree program in Social Economics gives you the freedom to learn how to work independently as a scientist and acquire the following skills:

• Assess prerequisites and conditions for social and socio-political activities
• Classify welfare state concepts in the more general context of state and democratic theories
• Focus on theoretical concepts and conduct empirical research about the political treatment of social, economic and technological structural change
• Assess socio-political interventions and measures (such as social benefits like unemployment benefits, unemployment assistance, family allowance, child support) based on theoretical concepts (analysis of reforms)
• Analyze Austrian (social) policy from an international comparative perspective. You will learn about differences between the countries.

Graduates of the Master's degree program in Social Economy can pursue a variety of occupations. You set your area of focus and determine your career path.

• Administrator or management in the public and/or non-profit sector either locally, nationally, or internationally:
  With social services providers both in the public sector and in the voluntary welfare sector; with other non-profit organizations, associations, clubs or in public administration with local authorities, federal states, federal ministries, social insurance institutions.
• Organizational and design tasks in the area of human resources at companies in the private or public sector (also in the area of company social policy)
• Office positions, consulting activities for decision-makers and research services for companies, public authorities, political parties, interest groups, social insurance institutions and associations
• Political communication and public relations as well as journalistic activities (journalism)
• Teaching and lecturing activities in the area of extracurricular education for youths and adults as well as training and continual education for professions in healthcare or social work
• Research and teaching as part of an academic degree program in social sciences and business at universities of applied sciences and universities

As part of the Master’s degree program, students are required to complete courses totaling 120 ECTS credits in the following areas.
 

New Curriculum and Provisional Regulations

The new curriculum is valid beginning Winter Semester 2019/2020. During the revision, the mandatory subject area "Social Policy" was revised. An overview of changes, new content, and provisional regulations is available in the document below (German only). The current curriculum is available in the Download area.

Please Note:

There are special regulations in the event that interim regulations and the number of courses offered during the 2019/2020 Winter Semester lead to a delay in graduating. The pre-requisite to fall under these special regulations is a realistic plan to complete your degree during the 2019/2020 Winter Semester. This means that your Master's thesis must be registered by October 7, 2019 and you only have to pass a few courses.

If this applies to you, please contact the office at the Institute of Politics and Social Policy for more information.

After completing your graduate degree, you can continue your education by pursuing an advanced degree:

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