Middle Eastern Studies (research) (MA)

Career prospects

Where do our graduates work?

The MA in Middle Eastern Studies (Research)  prepares students for a wide number of careers in which in-depth knowledge and advanced conceptual, analytical and interpretative skills are essential. Our graduates have pursued successful careers in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Graduates have also gone on to pursue a PhD and a career in academia. If you wish to pursue an academic career, your Master's is excellent preparation for a PhD programme or a career in a research agency or the research department of a company or government organisation. Your strong analytical and problem-solving skills can also be applied in a wide range of other vocations.

Examples of the diverse roles of our graduates include:

• Freelance writer/translator/project coordinator at a translation centre
• Lecturer at a Dutch university
• Translator and executive secretary at an embassy in the Netherlands
• Policy officer for education and funding at a national student union
• PhD candidate at a university in Spain
• PhD candidate at Leiden University
• Policy officer for Sahel region at a ministry
• Production assistant at a Swedish museum
• Teacher of English/Islamic religion at an educational institute in Saudi Arabia
• Middle East representative at a shipping and forwarding company.

Brigitte van de Pas

Graduated in Research MA Middle Eastern Studies

"I enrolled in the research master’s programme Middle Eastern Studies because I wanted to do a second degree that had a bit more immediate relevance for today’s world than my first degree, History. I am fascinated by other peoples and cultures, and this programme allowed me to study the Middle East as a whole, without having to choose one particular country to specialise in."

Research skills

"I am currently working as a researcher for the Benelux markets at the market research company Statista in Hamburg, Germany. Although the research I am doing now has little to do with the Middle East, the research skills learned at university are applicable to other types of research as well. Critical thinking, analysing information and presenting it the way non-experts would also understand it is vital to my job."

Prepared to work in an international environment

"The international atmosphere of the Leiden Institute of Area Studies as well as my study abroad period in Turkey and my internships in Kuwait and Egypt furthermore prepared me to work in an international environment, with people from all over the world. During my studies I never once considered the possibility of working with statistics, but as the saying goes: life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans!"

In which sector do students find jobs?

The graphs below are based on alumni data from the Research Master Middle Eastern Studies 2016-2020.

• 15 % Education
• 15 % Communication and marketing
• 15 % IT
• 8 % Research
• 8 % Government and semi-government organisations
• 8 % Culture, sports and recreation
• 8 % Welfare and health
• 8 % Consultancy
• 8 % Business services
• 7 % Financial institutions

Career preparation

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