Academics
In the Master’s programme Youth Development and Social Change you will research today’s pressing youth issues regarding the development of young people, from adolescence to young adulthood. You will learn to analyse the complex interplay between young people’s individual characteristics and their diverse contexts: their family, friends, school, neighbourhood, society and generation. You will learn about current youth policies and interventions, their social and legal implications and their impact on young people’s development.
Topics of this one-year Master’s programme include:
- Mental health (including school pressure, emotional problems and externalizing problem)
- Youth culture and lifestyle (including substance use, social media and gaming)
- Social participation and inclusion (including gender diversity and political engagement)
In doing so, you will combine knowledge and skills from social and behavioural sciences, human geography, law and medical sciences. You will learn about the similarities, the differences and the added value of various disciplinary and interdisciplinary concepts and theories on youth development. You will be able to apply this knowledge when you specialise in a youth issue of your own choice.
You will learn to turn complex societal issues into research questions and research results into policy recommendations. You will do this in close collaboration with researchers and professionals from different disciplines (such as medical professionals, psychologists and policymakers), young people and their parents. Their perspectives involve different goals and different languages. By training your (interdisciplinary) academic and communication skills, this Master’s programme will enable you to bridge these differences between these perspectives.