Singapore-based Master’s celebrates successful second year

Excellent feedback from the first MSc Skills and Workforce Development cohort encouraged 18 new recruits to join the course in 2016.

This innovative part-time programme aimed at practitioners, policy makers and researchers in the East Asian region is a leading-edge collaboration between the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University and the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) in Singapore.

The two-year executive Master's aims to develop expertise and enhance professional capacity in the field of employment, skills and workforce development in a changing global context.

Students attended their first learning event in May at the IAL in Singapore to be greeted by Professor Phil Brown, Professor Alan Felstead and Dr Dean Stroud from the School of Social Sciences. They were joined by Dr Sin Yi Cheung and Dr Nick Bailey, who were teaching the first cohort of students, and Honorary Professor Johnny Sung from the IAL.

Professor Caroline Lloyd, Programme Director, reported on the growth in the number of students: “We are very pleased with the number and calibre of the students on the programme. This success reflects the high quality and relevance of the programme to practitioners and policy makers in Singapore.’

A number of students from the first cohort participated in a promotional video for new recruits. Outlining the benefits of the first year of their studies, one senior manager in a training company described how the course ‘opened up a global perspective’, while another emphasised how it ‘created awareness’ and ‘crystallised my thoughts and arguments’.

A student currently working as a consultant in a multinational company explained that it had ‘shed a lot of light on how I can do my job better,’ while at the same time the programme is important for those who would like to ‘make a difference in shaping the economy of Singapore going forward’.

The MSc in Skills and Workforce Development aims to build the next generation of senior policy makers, divisional directors, researchers and other professionals required to meet the skills and workforce challenges of the future. Applications are now open for the next cohort of students starting in April 2017.

You can find out more about the course and application process via the School of Social Sciences website.