Philosophy in World Traditions (MA)
Career prospects
Where do our graduates work?
The master’s programme Philosophy in World Traditions prepares you for any career in which reasoning skills, high levels of abstraction and critical thinking are valued. Our graduates are currently employed in a wide range of professions in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Successful completion of an MA can also lead to PhD research and a career in academia.
Currently 100% of our students find employment at university-graduate level within one year of completing our one-year MA in Philosophy. We can attribute this both to the high quality of the programme and the talent and ambition of our students.
Examples of the diverse roles of our graduates include:
- Policy Officer at a ministry
- Copywriter at a media company
- Freelance editor
- PhD candidate at a university abroad
- Editor at a communications consultancy firm
- Consultant at an IT consultancy firm
- Editor at a company specialising in reviewing theses and dissertations
- Coordinator at an international human rights watch organisation
Teacher qualification
Are you interested in pursuing a career in education? Then you may apply for the Dutch-taught teacher-training MA at the ICLON Graduate School of Education after graduating from the master’s programme. To be admitted, you need to have a master’s degree in the relevant discipline. Fluency in Dutch is mandatory and additional entry requirements may apply.
In which sector do students find jobs?
The graphs below are based on alumni data from the cluster of the MA (60EC) and MA (120EC) in Philosophy 2016-2020.
- 25 % Government and semi-government organisations
- 25 % Education
- 13 % Research
- 8 % Consultancy
- 8 % Non-profit (e.g. at an idealistic organisation)
- 4 % Culture, sports and leisure
- 4 % IT
- 4 % Business services
- 4 % Media and journalism
- 4 % Financial organisations
- 1 % Other
Career preparation
Find out how this programme exactly prepares you for your future career and check our career preparation activities.
The master’s programme in Philosophy (120 EC) at Leiden University aims to equip you with a range of intellectual skills and academic attitude that can help you thrive in any position. Your high-level skills in abstraction, reasoning and critical thinking are intellectual skills that can be applied within any role, to any conceptual problem.
A growing number of students choose to do an internship during their study. Internships are a great way to gain firsthand experience in your area of interest before you decide on making it a career.
In recent years students from the MA Philosophy (120EC) have been doing internships at the following organisations:
- Filosofie Magazine
- Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Dutch Library)
- Peace Palace The Hague
- Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment Dutch Consulate Office in Chongquing, China
Our staff can help you identify both the career that is right for you, and the necessary steps to get you there. Our team at Humanities Career Service provide all Leiden University humanities students with professional advice and guidance on everything from internships and career planning to job applications. Humanities Career Service also organises regular workshops on topics such as effective interview skills and creating a successful CV.
The Humanities Career Service offers you various (online) workshops, webinars and info sessions. Check our overview of career activities.
The Leiden University Career Zone is an online career portal that helps you to prepare for the job market. Here you can find information, tools and tips to help you gain more personal insight, learn about the job market, develop your application skills, plan your academic and professional career, find job vacancies and discover what the Career Service can do for you.
Join the Mentor Network to contact alumni with experience on the labour market and ask them for advice. More than 1200 alumni are happy to help you!
Jelle on finding an internship via Leiden University's Mentor Network
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