Extended Master
Sociology
Academic Year 2015/2016
Department of Sociology
Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Tilburg University
Contents
1
Goals of the Extended Master
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1.1 Students
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1.2 Partner Organizations
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1.3 Department
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Content and structure
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2.1 Couse work
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2.2 Master’s thesis (including IRP)
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2.3 Junior traineeship
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2.4 Trainee-report
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2.5 Reflection days and closing seminar
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2
Certification
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3
Admission
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4
Obligations and tasks of parties involved
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4.1
Partner organizations
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4.2
The Department of Sociology
8
4.3
Students
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2.
1. Goals of the Extended Master
The Extended Master Sociology (EMS) is a master program of one and half year (6 units) in
which EMS students combine regular course work in units 1-4 of the Master Sociology at
Tilburg University with a junior traineeship in units 2-6 at a selected organization. The workload of the junior traineeship is equivalent to 30 ECTS (840 hours).
The research problem dealt with in the Master Thesis is preferably linked to the internship.
The general goal of the EMS is to provide students with relevant working experience and to
enhance their research skills and knowledge. Specific goals are listed below.
1.1 Students
From the students’ point of view, EMS intends to:
a) Acquaint students with the work they might do as sociologist.
b) Provide students with the experience of working in an organization and as such enhance
the image students have of occupational life of sociologists.
c) Promote the social skills needed in a professional environment.
d) Provide an orientation to the labor market.
e) Support the transition from the academic schooling into a professional career (the traineeship may function as an opportunity for organizations to screen for new employees).
f) Enhance students’ research skills (in hands-on experience such as data gathering, (co-)
writing, initiating and organizing a research).
g) Provide the opportunity to apply and test sociological theories to practical problems.
h) Provide an empirical basis for writing their Master theses.
i) Broaden the themes and problems studied by sociology students.
j) Enhance skills in policy analysis and policy advice.
k) Give students the possibility to reflect (and write) on their traineeship’s learning goals and
experiences.
1.2 Partner Organizations
From the partner organizations’ (PO) point of view, EMS intends to:
a) Contribute to the research of the organization through the traineeship of the student, especially if the Master Thesis’ research of the EMS student is linked to the partner organization.
b) Strengthen the relationship of the partner organization with the university through interaction with the student, the professional supervisor from the partner organization, and the
academic supervisor from the university.
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c) Increase the academic relevance of the research of the partner organization. If the Master
Thesis of the EMS student is linked to the work of the partner organization, this will embed the problems studies by the PO more into the academic field.
d) Facilitate recruitment and ease transition for new employees into the organization.
e) Give the PO the opportunity to recruit young and talented employees.
1.3 Department
From the department’s point of view, the Extended Master intends to:
a) Establish a more systematic and stable relationships with organizations in the field.
b) Enhance knowledge exchange between organizations in the field and the department.
c) Facilitate access to data and to interesting and novel research problems for innovative
research.
d) Increase the societal relevance of sociological research.
e) Increase the attractiveness of the (Master) Sociology for students.
2. Content and structure
The duration of the Extended Master program is one and half year. The program consists of
the course work of the regular Master Sociology in units 1-4, and the so called junior traineeship of 12 months in units 3-6. In the units 3-6r, students on average participate 2.5 days per
week in regular work activities for the partner organizations. The programming can be flexible and adapted to the needs of the Partner Organization and/or student.
From 2015 onwards, the Master of Sociology at Tilburg University offers two intake moments. The programming is flexible in the sense that traineeship can be more intensive during
a certain period of the year and less intensive during another period of the year.
Apart from the regular program, there are three reflection days during the junior traineeship
and a closing Seminar. These reflection days and closing seminar are part of the Master seminars. On these reflection days, students inform the Master and Extended Master coordinators
about their internship, the progress they have made etc. A portfolio and attending reflection
days are compulsory parts of the EMS program. A more detailed description of the information that should be provided in the portfolio and on the reflection days and closing seminar
can be found further on in this document.
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2.1 Course work
Students who follow the EMS will take the four regular content courses of the Master Sociology and start with the Master’s Seminar Sociology in unit 1. Total work load is 30 ECTS
credits.
2.2 Master’s thesis (including IRP)
Starting in unit 3 of the Extended Master students worktime on their Master’s thesis research.
Preferably, the research problem dealt with in the Master’s Thesis will focus around the work
studied by the partner organization. If the Master Thesis is linked to the work of the PO, the
student should discuss the research plan (individual research proposal) and Master Thesis not
only with the academic supervisor but also with the professional supervisor from the PO.
The professional supervisor has an advisory role; the academic supervisor is the one who is
responsible for the research plan and the master thesis, and as such takes and/or evaluates the
important decisions done in the Master’s Thesis. However, the Extended Master coordinator
in consultation with the Program Director of the Master program, may decide that the professional supervisor’s role is also to evaluate the IRP (see below) and the final Master’s thesis.
All EMS students should follow the guidelines and rules of the Master’s Thesis Sociology. In
their thesis, students should answer an academically relevant, sociological question by using
appropriate scientific literature and tools. The thesis has to be written in English, but if linked
to the work of the PO, the PO may ask for an extensive summary of the student’s thesis in
Dutch. If the latter is the case, details should be agreed on between the academic supervisor
(see below), the student and the professional supervisor of the partner organization beforehand.
Before students can start with their Master Thesis research, they have to successfully complete an individual research proposal (IRP). In the IRP, students lay out a research plan based
on prior empirical and theoretical literature and present the research design and methodological approach to answer the research question. The responsible academic supervisor from the
Department of Sociology determines whether the IRP is of sufficient level to be formally assessed. The assessment of the IRP is conducted by a second reader from the Department of
Sociology. The professional supervisor can also be appointed as second evaluator of the IRP
and later the Master’s thesis.
Students will be provided with guidelines about process, formats, deadlines, and evaluation
criteria for Master’s thesis and IRP. The IRP will be part of the Master’s Seminar Sociology
course (12 ECTS credits if completed). Regular and Extended Master students will follow the
same guidelines, but there are separate deadlines for handing in the IRP and presenting the
thesis (see section 5, time path).
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2.3 Junior traineeship
The main aims of the junior traineeship are to provide students with relevant work experience
and to enhance their (research) skills and knowledge. In the junior traineeship, the students
participate in regular work activities within the partner organization. They perform a wide
range of (project-) activities for and commissioned by the partner organization. Their prime
task is to take part in (the various stages of) new or existing research projects. This can vary
from co-authorship of chapters/papers, doing analyses to data collection. Other tasks involve
regular professional tasks normally undertaken by (junior) researchers of their level of qualification. On average, participating in regular work activities within the partner organization
should amount to about 50% of the working time per week of the student. The rest of the
week, students follow the courses of the regular Master’s program, and work on their Master
thesis.
2.4 Trainee-report
At the end of the junior traineeship students will have to hand in a trainee-report. This report
summarizes the students’ learning experiences during the junior traineeship and gives an account of the activities performed, against the background of the learning goals stated in the
personal development plan. This personal development has to be agreed with the professional
supervisor and written down in the first few (3-5) weeks of the traineeship (see 4.1 Obligations and tasks of the partner organization).
In the trainee report, students describe the organizational setup, and reflect upon their experiences, for example on the organizational functioning, the (social and sociological) problems
studied, or the learned methods and statistics. The report includes an overview of the work
done in the organization and a reflection on the learning processes. It describes the learning
goals, explains if and how they have been realized during the traineeship and how the student
worked on their competencies and skills.
For that purpose, students create a portfolio describing the competencies and skills the EMS
students wants to develop during their traineeship as well as the processes and activities undertaken to achieve the learning goals. The portfolio is for self-reflection and reveals the personal development during the traineeship. Students should provide the proofs of this personal
development and the progress made to achieve the learning goals. The portfolio is made
available to the professional supervisor and the Master and Extended Master coordinators via
BB (Journals) and further discussed on the reflection days and in the master seminars.
The final trainee-report should be written in English (10-12 pages), unless otherwise agreed
with the partner organization. The trainee-report will be assessed by a committee consisting of
the professional supervisor, the Extended Master and Master coordinators as either sufficient
or insufficient. In case the thesis is linked to the work in the internship, also the academic su-
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pervisor is part of the assessment committee. All members of the committee should grade the
report sufficient in order to have right to receive the certificate.
A short written evaluation of the trainee by the professional supervisor will be attached to the
trainee-report.
2.5 Reflection days and closing seminar
During the internship, three reflection days and a seminar are organized which are obligatory
for all extended master students. In these interactive meetings students explain the progress of
their internship and get feedback from their fellow students and supervisors. At the seminar
students present their internship to each other and other interested students.
Reflection day 1: In this meeting students provide information about the organization, their
tasks within the organization and present their personal development plan with specific learning goals and skills students want to realize and explain why these and how to achieve these,
including a planning scheme.
Reflection day 2: In this interactive meeting, students inform each other and the supervisors
about their experiences so far and progress they have made in their internship; are changes in
the plans and activities necessary? Why and what? What has been realized so far? How are
the tasks done? Why in that way? Do you have sufficient knowledge or are you lacking (specific) knowledge and skills to perform the tasks adequately? How did you cope with that
omission? How is sphere at the workplace and mutual relationships with superiors, supervisor
and colleagues? Is the planning scheme still ok or should it be adapted? Why and how?
Reflection day 3: In this interactive meeting students provide a brief overview of their
achievements in their traineeship. To what extent are the learning goals and personal development plan realized? They inform each other about how they worked on their competencies/skills and elaborate on the final stage of their internship.
Seminar: Final (poster) presentation
In the last month of the internship all Extended Master Students present their experiences and
achievements of their internship and their thesis to a broader audience consisting of the staff
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of the Sociology Department, the Professional Supervisors and fellow Sociology students.
EMS students prepare posters about their internship and their thesis for a poster session.
2. Certification
The Extended Master program of those who entered in September 2015 ends by the end of
January 2017. Graduation will take place late February 2017. For those who entered in January 2016 the program will finish in August 2017 and graduation is in September 2017. The
Extended Master is based on a voluntary agreement between the student, the Department of
Sociology and the partner organization. Students will receive a Master’s diploma Sociology of
60 ECTS and a professional certificate of 30 ECTS issued by the Department of Sociology
and the partner organization. The professional certificate is only awarded if the student receives the Master’s diploma and has completed the junior traineeship and received a “sufficient” for the trainee-report.
3. Admission
At the start of the Master year, further information will be provided on the admission procedure.
Important: not every student who qualifies for and is interested in EMS, will be automatically admitted to the EMS program.
The procedure for admission is as follows:
•
All students who are enrolled in the Master Sociology can apply for an internship by uploading a completed application package in Blackboard.
•
The application package contains the following documents.
a) A 2 to 3 page motivation letter, in which the student specifies his/her interest in the
Extended Master and clarifies why (s)he should be admitted to the Extended Master.
In the letter, the student should also indicate and motivate which three organizations
(s)he would prefer as organizations in which (s)he will do the junior traineeship.
b) A short curriculum vitae (CV), specifying the educational background of the student,
as well as his/her other interests and activities which might be relevant for admission
to the Extended Master program.
c) List of courses and grades from the Bachelor’s or pre-Master’s program.
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•
Decisions about admission to the Extended Master will be made by the Program Director
of the Master program and the Extended Master coordinator. The decision will be based
on the quality of the candidate as well as his/her motivation and interests.
•
Students who are admitted to the Extended Master apply at one of the preferred organization. The partner organizations will be informed by the department about the students
they can expect for a job interview. Arranging the interview is the responsibility of the
student him/herself. Students are not allowed to arrange a job interview with a partner organization that was not appointed to them by the department unless otherwise communicated.
•
Partner organizations have to formally approve of the candidates. On the basis of the motivation letter, the CV and the job interview, they decide about the acceptance of the candidate who was suggested to them by the department.
•
If a partner organization does not accept a student, the student can apply for another partner organization. The Department decides to which other partner organization the student
can turn for a new job interview. Arranging the interview is the responsibility of the student him/herself.
4. Obligations and tasks of parties involved
The parties’ obligations and tasks are as follows:
4.1 Partner organizations
The partner organization will offer at least one student the opportunity to work as junior trainee and perform tasks according to their level of skills, knowledge and understanding. The
tasks involve participation in the various stages of existing or new research projects. This can
vary from co-authorship of chapters/papers, performing analyses to data collection. Other
tasks involve regular professional tasks normally undertaken by (junior) researchers of their
level of qualification.
The partner organization will designate a staff member as a supervisor (the professional supervisor) for the student. The professional supervisor will guide the student in the traineeship.
The professional supervisor and student agree on a personal development plan in which the
learning goals and competencies and skills the student wants to work on for the junior traineeship are stated. The plan will be written by the student and will be part of the portfolio and
later the trainee-report.
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The professional supervisor will regularly (e.g., each six weeks) discuss the student’s development in the traineeship. The professional supervisor will also assess the student’s traineereport.
We additionally request a short written evaluation report on the trainee from the professional
supervisor. This written evaluation should be attached to the trainee-report and be made
available to the trainee.
If the research of the Master thesis is linked to the work of the PO, the professional supervisor
can also be appointed as evaluator of the IRP and later the Master’s thesis.
Unless otherwise agreed, the partner organization may offer a financial compensation to students to cover living expenses without further employment and the additional tuition. The
organizational and financial conditions will be made explicit and will be formalized in a contract, signed by the student and the partner organization. The contract may contain an agreement about the confidentiality of information, the use of research data and results as well as
their publication.
An evaluation at the PO should be scheduled, e.g., within 6 weeks from the start of the traineeship. In case this evaluation turns out to be negative from either side, the traineeship may be
terminated and the student has to enter the regular Master program.
4.2 The Department of Sociology
The Department of Sociology will appoint an academic supervisor who will be responsible
for supervising and assessing the Masters’s thesis (including IRP). The academic supervisor
will contact the student regularly about the academic progress made and will see to it that the
student meets the deadlines and requirements. In case the student’s Master Thesis is linked to
the work of the PO, the academic supervisor will also have regular contact with the professional supervisor of the partner organization to discuss student’s traineeship and thesis progress who may also act as evaluator.
The Extended Master coordinator is accountable for the program of EMS, and the organizational setup. He informs students about EMS, selects students who subsequently apply for
partner organizations, and is the person to turn to in case problems with the traineeship arise.
The coordinator of the Master Seminar and Master Thesis is the person responsible for the
organizational setup of the Master Thesis and IRP and is the one to turn to if problems with
the Master Thesis and/or IRP arise. He/she is also involved in selecting students for EMS and
assessment of the traineeship.
4.3 Students
The students will sign the traineeship contract and by that subscribe to the organizational and
financial conditions stated. Furthermore, they are obliged to adhere to the rules of conduct of
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the partner organization and to the confidentiality agreement stated in the contract. The supervision and facilities the students receive from the partner organization are strictly connected to
the compliance with the contract and the resulting agreements.
Students will also follow the guidelines and requirements of the regular Master Sociology
program and the general education rules stated in the OER 2015/16 (Education and Exam
Rules of the Master Programs) of the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
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