Book and Digital Media Studies (MA)

Career prospects

What our graduates do

Graduates of the master in Book and Digital Media Studies leave with a well-developed knowledge of the history, theory and practice of textual transmission via manuscript, print and digital media.

Our alumni have gone on to pursue successful careers in a wide range of fields, including all branches of the book trade, libraries, the cultural heritage sector and the knowledge industry. They have also found employment as antiquarians, booksellers, librarians, curators, and project managers for publishing companies.

Some positions held by recent graduates have included:

• Account manager at a publishing house
• Project officer at a governmental agency specialising in cultural heritage
• PhD candidate at a university in the United Kingdom
• Project manager at a university library
• Desktop publishing editor at a publishing house
• Technical marketing coordinator at a publishing house
• Communications officer and author on company history at a multinational publishing group
• Assistant editor at a publishing house
• Event manager at a Russian academic library
• Editor at a consultancy company
• Project manager at a foundation collecting original (historic) manuscripts to set up a library.

Giulio Menna

Graduated in Book and Digital Media Studies

"After I graduated in Graphic & Multimedia Design at La Sapienza in Rome I started working at a small, local publishing house. Yet soon realized that I was not done with studying, and I wanted a challenge: “to graduate abroad!”. Book and Digital Media studies was the obvious choice: an MA programme taught in English that blended the theoretical and practical nature of today’s book world. I now use the skills gained on the programme in my role as application manager and developer at Leiden University Libraries: I make sure that students and researchers can find and access the wealth of knowledge stored at our Library, while at the same time developing open-source applications to allow for new discoveries."

The graphs below are based on alumni data from the MA Media Studies - Book and Digital Media Studies 2016-2020.

In which sector do students find jobs?

• 16 % Media and journalism
• 16 % Information management
• 16 % Publishing
• 16 % Sports, culture and recreation
• 11 % Wholesale and retail
• 5 % Research
• 5 % Education
• 5 % Government and semi-government organisations
• 5 % Non-profit organizations
• 5 % Business services

Career preparation

Find out how this programme exactly prepares you for your future career and check our career preparation activities.