Master's in Sociology

Ghent University is a public university in Ghent, Belgium. It was founded in 1817 and is one of the largest universities in Belgium. The university has over 40,000 students and 6,000 staff members. It offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs in the fields of humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and engineering. Ghent University is ranked #121-130 in the QS World University Rankings 2024. It is also a member of the League of European Research Universities and the Coimbra Group.

The Master of Science in Sociology addresses contemporary social problems via a strong academic approach and the concept of sociological imagination. Using your sociological imagination means that you pull away from a personal-level assessment of a situation, to include the historical and societal context. Students use this ability to connect the things that happen to people (such as their success in education, their relationship with their parents and their well-being) to social characteristics (the way schools are organised, the divorce rate, the degree of social inequality). The one year programme is based on three cornerstones: an advanced scientific approach to contemporary societal problems through the method of sociological imagination. This is used to answer sociological questions such as: what are the social conditions that constitute the fundamental causes of health and illness? How can higher education institutions become more accessible? Why have so many young Muslims joined Islamic State the past couple of years? How are power and responsibilities formally and informally distributed within organizations? applied sociology, as opposed to pure theoretical research. This is translated into an internship, policy and organization/management courses and a focus on intervention in certain courses. Internationalisation though internship. Students choose one of the four available Majors (International Internship, Policy and Management, Skills Lab or Conflict and Development in a Global World). They write a Master's dissertation and opt for an international work placement or follow advanced policy-oriented and applied course units. Meanwhile they gain a thorough understanding of both advanced quantitative and qualitative research methods. .