7 Reasons Why You Should Study International Development

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Studying international development can be the first step to an exciting global career. However, undertaking a course of study can also be a major time and financial commitment. You definitely want to be sure you’re choosing the right course! Thankfully there are lots of reasons to study international development.

You should study international development if you are interested in world events and want to work addressing global inequality. Studying international development allows you to research the causes, effects and solutions to some of the major issues in the world, whilst laying the foundation of an exciting international career.

With that said, there’s plenty more reasons why studying international development may be a great option for you…

It Prepares You for an Exciting Career

A great reason why you should study international development is that it can lead to an exciting career. Studying international development provides you with the technical tools and knowledge, as well as theoretical understanding of global development issues.

The skills gained through studying international development help you build a career as international aid or development workers – a fascinating career tacking poverty and responding to crises.

Studying international development is often listed as one the key requirements for jobs in humanitarian aid or development work. Completing a degree in international development opens the door to working with NGO’s responding to crises and disasters, as well as working for respected international organisations like the UN.

Studying international development gives you the educational background to work with some of the leading organisations addressing the most pressing challenges in the world.

Completing a degree in international development allows you to build a career working directly to assist those affected by conflict, disasters and poverty. In addition, studying international development can lead to an exciting career of travel, working on the front-lines of ongoing crises or on longer-term projects helping alleviate systemic poverty. Studying international development can also lead to an exciting career in policy development, human rights, environmental action and conflict resolution.

You Can Research Major World Issues

Another reason why you should study international development is that it allows you to research current and historical world issues. Studying international development gives you a deeper understanding of what is currently happening in the world and why. It allows you to dig deeper to find the historical, economic and political causes of ongoing world events. These are great reasons to study international development and gain a real understanding of the contemporary world.

Studying International development means you can do research on a broad range of topics. Some of the areas international development can focus on include:

  • Humanitarian aid
  • Poverty reduction
  • Global health
  • Gender
  • Human rights
  • Climate change
  • Global security
  • International relations
  • Community development

Studying international development is also great for learning about the wider trends in world events, as well as how often the causes of what is happening across the world are linked. Studying international development gives you the knowledge and skills to see how broader historical, cultural and political trends have shaped our world, and how international development practice can help address current problems faced by populations.

An advantage of studying international development is that it allows you to research in-depth specific world issues that interest you. This is means you can learn how historical ideas still impact current events as well as get a deeper understanding of other countries and cultures.

Studying international development also lets you debate these ideas with other students on your course, who may have different thoughts on what causes crises around the world and how best to address them.

International Development Online Courses

If you are looking to study international development, taking an online short course can be a great way to boost your application. We highly recommend the course Management of International Development: Towards Agenda 2030. It looks at the current international development model as well as the trends that will be key to global development in the near future. Follow the link to the course’s page for more information.

We also think the online course Sustainable Development in the 21st Century by Yonsei University to be one of the best for those interested in international development. Delivered by former UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon, the online course would be a great addition to the CV of anyone looking to study international development. The link is to the course’s page.

If you are interested in the practical methods used on international development projects, we recommend the online course How To Design & Fund International Development NGO Projects. The course teaches students the tools needed to establish and run impactful development projects. Click the link to visit the course’s page for more information.

It Trains You To Fight Global Injustice

You should definitely study international development if you are interested in addressing inequality and injustice in the world. The focus of international development study is the many causes of inequality and injustice in the world today and studying development gives you the tools to challenge these injustices.  Studying international development also informs you of the historical contexts in which the injustices in the world today are rooted.

Studying international development lets you focus on a wide range of global justice issues, from refugees and migrants to environmental concerns.

An international development course also lets you develop the skills for global campaigning and advocacy. This means you are able to make real lasting changes and better fight for global justice. Studying international development is a great decision if improving the world and fighting injustice are important to you.

As well as focusing on how poorer countries can develop and so better provide for their citizens, international development students can cover a wide range of global justice issues. These can include topics such as gender, race, economic inequality, community development and colonialism. This is a great reason to study international development as it means you can address many social justice issues that interest you through the lens of global development.

You are Taught by Leading Experts

A great reason to study international development is that you are taught by some of the leading experts in development theory and practice. As international development covers many fields, students on international development courses learn from leading practitioners across many subjects.

International development experts can also cross cut development with other global issues such as history, economics and politics, as well as contemporary issues like gender, human rights and the environment.

Studying a degree in international development means learning from experts who not only have a deep academic understanding of the root causes and impacts of unequal global development, but also have practical field experience. Many international development courses are led by practitioners who have worked all over the world on the front-lines of crises and disasters, or run programmes tacking key global issues like poverty and climate change.

A great reason to study international development is to learn first-hand from these teachers and their experiences.

International development is a great choice of study for those who want to learn directly from experts on global issues. Professors on international development courses can often come from many different countries, bringing diverse view-points on current world events, their causes and ways to address them. Learning from these experts by studying international development gives you first-hand knowledge to identify trends and patterns that can lead to unequal development outcomes, improve your contextual understanding of the world and build better knowledge of how global development impacts people’s lives.

You Learn in a Diverse Group

International development courses are filled with students from all over the world. This is a great reason to study international development as you can work together in a diverse group to critique and analyse world issues and their solutions. Studying in a diverse group, often with people from developed and developing countries, brings together a broad range of experiences and ideas. It also allows for a better understanding and cooperation on development issues, as well as meaning you can work together to find creative solutions to global problems.

Studying international development is a great way to make new friends from all over the world. As international development courses attract a wide range of students, studying international development gives you the chance to meet, learn from and build strong relationships with people from many different countries.

Meeting new people, with different backgrounds and lived experiences, whilst sharing your ideas of how to address some of the major crises in the world, is an amazing part of studying international development.

Another great reason why you should study international development is to build a strong professional network of like-minded people. Students on international development courses often go on to work in international organisations such as humanitarian NGOs, or the UN, as well as other fascinating lines of work.

Studying international development means you can create a professional network across many different fields of work, allowing you all to work together to build exciting careers.

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You Get Options to Research, Intern and Work Abroad

A really fantastic reason to study international development is that it can give you the option to study, intern and work abroad. Many international development courses include semesters where you can study at another institution, often in the developing world, as well as internships where you can gain valuable international field experience. The options available to travel are definitely some of the best parts of studying international development.

Most international development courses encourage their students to conduct field research as part of their studies. This is another great opportunity to travel that studying international development provides.

As development research often needs to be conducted in the field, studying international development can allow you to travel to complete research, gaining first-hand knowledge of global issues whilst also having amazing experiences exploring new cultures and places.

As well as studying and researching abroad, a great reason to study international development is that a lot of international development courses allow you intern at top NGOs and international organisations. On international development courses you can also often intern at grassroot organisations fighting injustice.

Studying international development can allow you to see the real impact of unequal global development first-hand as well as see how international development solutions can practically improve the lives of people affected by poverty, conflict and disasters.

It Opens Your Eyes to Crises Around the World

A great reason why you should study international development is that it can broaden your perspective of what is happening in the world. International development courses let you investigate ongoing crises, as well as develop innovative solutions.

Studying international development means you can conduct your own research into crises and issues that you are passionate about, testing your own theories for how situations can be improved.

Another reason why you should study international development is that it can introduce you to lesser-known crises and events, both contemporary and historical. This can be a great advantage of doing an international development course as it can not only broaden your perspective and understanding of these more hidden issues, but also show you how these issues can impact not only the people they affect, but the wider world.

Studying international development is fantastic for those who want learn more about how crises and poverty are caused and their impacts. Students on international development courses learn the systemic causes of disasters and global inequality as well as how global crises interconnect.

Doing an international development course allows you to respond to world events as they happen, as well as debate and discuss events among your fellow-students to teachers.

Duncan

Duncan is the founder of Humanitarian Careers. With over ten years experience in the aid industry across fifteen countries, Duncan set-up Humanitarian Careers to help people launch their own career in international aid.