Graduate / Advocacy has always come naturally to me; SOP MSc in Public Policy and Human Governance [2]

Any and all advice on this would be hugely appreciated. It should be 400-500 words. It is almost 600 words. It must show my motivation for the course and why I chose the program.

Advocacy has always come naturally to me. When I was 12 I was elected to the position of Student Council Representative. During our first meeting with senior management I raised the issue of racism and bullying against my fellow Muslim students. Unfortunately, in this instance I was told that there was no racism and I was only imagining the issue. Had I then been equipped with the qualitative and quantitive research skills I hope to develop on this course, I would have been in a far better position to defend my peers.

In part due to British involvement in Iraq and Palestine, and what I felt to be my duty as a citizen, I took BA(Hons) in Arabic Studies. Along with the Arabic Language component of the degree I took courses in Islam and Middle Eastern History. I discovered the field of Social Anthropology in my second year when I took the module Political and Economic Anthropology. We explored the economic and political conditions which shape our lives; the historical context out of which industrial capitalism was born and the shape it took as it spread across the globe. Following on from this, in my final year, I took Anthropology, Globalisation and Development. This furthered my understanding of the economic dimensions of neoliberalism. I wrote my essay on racialised poverty in the US: the structural causes of poverty and the ideology underpinning this structure. From the unregulated informal labour force to the association of welfare with the undeserving black poor, which had underpinned the ideological attack on 'big government'. Since writing that essay I have consistently found parallels between the economic and social policies taken in the US and those being advanced in the UK. It seems clear to me that the neoliberal agenda of cutting welfare, privatising public services and switching from a manufacturing to a service economy deepens social inequality. The studies I have done so far have given me a good base for understanding the wider trends in society, the formation and implementation of ideology and the consequences of this on peoples lives. I would like now to focus on the details of the policies and financial decisions which govern us and more importantly I want to acquire the tools to analyse and form public policy and thus help contribute to a better future for us all. In short, I am applying for this Masters programme because I dislike the direction in which Public Policy is heading and I want the tools to properly understand it and the ability to make an informed impact on it.

Since learning of this course at Maastricht University I have become convinced that this is where I must complete my Masters. Thanks to my work as an English Teacher in Saudi Arabia I have become well aware of how useful creative group work is, and I cannot imagine completing a Masters which consists solely of passive big group lectures. I am excited by the sheer amount of material which is covered in each course unit. I feel that I am adequately prepared in terms of what I have learned in my previous studies. The specialization Social Protection Policy Design and Financing was made for me. It covers in depth exactly what interested me most in my degree at the University of Manchester. The programme appeals to me because it covers both the theory behind social policy and financing and the finer details of the research methods and economic considerations which form it. The opportunity to work with a programme associated with the ILO and to contribute to the research they produce is unparalleled.