Masters graduate: Katie Deadman-Vernall

Katie studied a degree in psychology and sociology followed by a PGCE in religious education for secondary and sixth form. She's now completed the part-time MA Reconciliation and Peacebuilding at the University of Winchester

Why did you decide to pursue a postgraduate course?

For personal and professional development; for an academic challenge, to be guided in how to deepen my learning - particularly to give myself permission to learn and study - and for career progression.

What was the application process like?

Straightforward. Forms and a personal statement. Prior to submitting my application, I contacted the course leaders for a conversation, which they were readily available to have, and it was very informative.

Why did you choose this postgraduate course and institution?

The course offered a great depth and breadth of enquiry into areas of personal and professional interest; it spoke to my long-felt desire, and moral inclination, to become more knowledgeable about conflict, conflict transformation and peacekeeping.

It also offered areas of focus that directly relate to the work I am engaged in, and areas in which I would like to continue to develop my expertise and career; that it offered the opportunity to conduct a final consultation report developed in partnership with an outside organisation was a key attraction.

I also chose the course for its seemingly unique breadth of content - the study on a macro to micro level, from global politics to the interpersonal - for its esteemed practitioner-academics, for its part-focus on religion, for the in-person practical opportunities it offered, and for the method of participation - part-time and online.

Further, I had previously studied a postgraduate course at the university, so I had experience of it being a good institution, particularly with how it caters for mature students and offers career support.

How did you fund your postgraduate study?

Through a minor contribution from my employer as well as a postgraduate student loan.

What did the course teach you that your first degree did not?

With regard to the content, the course taught me circa. 80% new information. In terms of the method and processes for learning, the course built on what I had learned in my undergraduate and previous postgraduate study, but enabled and emboldened me to take deep dives into research, to focus my study more narrowly and intentionally, greatly developed my critical thinking and application, and taught me a great deal about inequality and inclusivity in the creation and acquisition of knowledge, which has very much stayed with me and continues to inform my research and praxis.

Tell us a bit about the course and what it involved.

It was a two-year, part-time MA that involved three modules per year, each with at least one core assessment, often an essay, but with also some more creative opportunities to reflect learning - for example, presentations, case studies and group projects.

The first two modules offered foundational learning for the whole course and delved into the key thinkers and practitioners to be regularly encountered, some of the world's most significant conflicts, insight into why conflicts can occur and what 'peace' and 'reconciliation' might mean.

Once the foundational modules were completed, students were able to curate their learning journey from the modules on offer. The opportunities included conflict-mapping, the role of dialogue, the role of religion, theories of change, and interpersonal communications such as mediation.

The final assessment was scheduled for a few months after the completion of the final module and offered three options: a project, consultation, or dissertation, with the supervision of at least one of the course leaders.

How does postgraduate life differ to undergraduate?

This is difficult to answer as when I was an undergraduate student, I was young, with no responsibilities and living away from home. As a postgraduate, in both experiences, I was a mature student, with dependants, a responsible job, a home and bills to pay.

Postgraduate life therefore came with less free time for study, so study time had to be intentionally ring-fenced and protected, and less mental capacity given all the elements of life that need processing and thinking space.

I also very much felt the financial cost of postgraduate study, so I had more impetus to get value out of the course.

Postgraduate life involved much weekend-working and many, many late nights. It was more self-directed than undergraduate study, so it seemed to foster my curiosity, allowing me to go down proverbial rabbit-holes in order to explore my interests. It also offered more opportunities for connecting with the learning, with my fellow learners and those leading us on the learning journey. The course leaders were guides on a journey with us learners, learning with us too at times, rather than distant academics at the front of a classroom.

I relished the focus on critical thinking that postgraduate study offered - the encouragement to challenge my own thinking, to look from as many perspectives as can be imagined, and the self-directed study and consultation report I was able to do has continued to pay dividends in my work, in terms of my confidence and ability.

I felt the significance, value and privilege of postgraduate study more than I recall feeling as an undergraduate. Back then, going to university just felt like 'the done thing', the next have-to-do on the academic-agenda of life, the thing to do to please your parents, and to buy a little more time out of the working world.

Choosing to study as a postgraduate was a result of serious consideration of my resources - family, time, energy and finance - and perceived as a serious opportunity that I could use and benefit from immediately, and in the future.

What did you hope to do when you graduated?

I have already gained a new job, a promotion. I hope to continue developing my learnings from the Masters in my work, in my day-to-day life, and in a significant piece of (national) truth and reconciliation research I am now engaged in.

What would you say to others considering a Masters degree?

Weigh it up carefully - the cost is immense, not least the student loan repayments - but if you choose your course in an area you feel you will enjoy, be curious about, and will in some way link directly to your life (be that work, experiences, hopes and dreams), the benefits will likely be big, ongoing, and potentially transformational.

Masters graduate — Katie Deadman-Vernall