Hi everyone!

This is Maria from the Master΄s in Gender Studies: Intersectionality and Change and today in this blog post, I would like to share my experience with the programme overall. To be noted, I am a really really old student, admitted in 2015, but taking the courses part-time as I was working at the same time and things got a bit challenging!

I got inspired to write about my opinion of the programme because many potential students are asking me how I find it and over the years, I have been answering more or less the same questions. So there it goes, I will summarize the key points to consider while making the decision if the Master΄s in Gender Studies: Intersectionality and Change is for you or not!

The programme and the courses

The programme was a very exciting topic for me because I come from Greece, where we do not have a faculty dedicated to Gender Studies. There are several university courses within other fields, such as Humanities, Pedagogics, Psychology, etc. But so far to my knowledge there is not a Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree. Therefore, for me, it was a programme that would give me a lot of new insights and career development. The courses are following the logic of teaching different theories of gender with an intersectional perspective. That can be a bit tricky because the level is quite advanced for someone who has never studied similar courses before and this is the first time entering the field. Part of the reason for my delayed graduation along with working conditions was that it took me time to even adjust to the new concepts taught.

The flexibility of 50% online & 50% on campus

One of the most appealing aspects of the programme is that is given in English 50% online and 50% on campus. This means that there are three (3) obligatory Face to Face Weeks per academic year and all the other forms of teaching and participation are done online. Basically, someone can take this Master’s from distance and only travel to Linköping, Sweden to attend the Face to Face Weeks. Of course, COVID-19 possibly gave even more flexibility to the courses due to the restrictions and measurements that the university has taken to keep everyone safe. Thus, there was an increase in online participation in the last few months. Of course, there is a trap of having so much online education! Beware of your self-dedication and working conditions. It is easy to fall into the trap that we can manage easily the courses and work just because the Master’s is mostly online. I have definitely underestimated the time I had to put into my studies and due to my work, I ended up taking more years to finish it. I don’t mind it though because over the years the topics have grown in me, I gained a lot of confidence in the field, and my work in the Non-Profit Organisations has been enriched.

The final verdict

The Master’s in Gender Studies: Intersectionality and Change has changed my personal and professional path. I gained a lot of knowledge, I have changed my attitude towards many gender issues and it gave me a lot of new skills to work within my field of profession. It has been challenging, of course, studying in Sweden is advanced, but it is all worth it and I wouldn’t change my decision back then to join this programme, and to stay despite my struggles with balancing my studies and work-life.

Good luck with your application and hope to see you at Linköping University!

All the best,

Maria

The photo was taken from the official website of Linköping University, on the page where you can read more about the Gender Studies: Intersectionality and Change

 

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