Management of Social Change Master's program

Professionally qualifying completion of at least 6 semesters of study with 180 ECTS credits (Master's degree with 4 semesters) or 7 semesters of study with 210 ECTS credits (Master's degree with 3 semesters) in the social sciences and related sciences.

Social change is omnipresent in modern societies. It affects population structures and state institutions as well as technologies and corporate organizations, but also family forms and social identities. Current key dynamics - from "demographic change", "digitalization" and "globalization" to "socio-ecological upheaval" - make it clear that social change processes are taking place at all levels and in all subsystems of society. We cannot ignore them, but are faced with the task of recognizing them and - as far as possible - shaping them.

The Master's degree program deals with this dual task and combines theoretical-conceptual, research-methodological as well as application- and practice-oriented components. Structures and actors, forms and consequences of social change processes as well as approaches and methods of social change management are taught from an interdisciplinary perspective.

The course enables graduates to independently carry out social science analyses of social change processes and to advise and support individuals, groups and organizations in their practical design.

Modules

• Perspectives, topics and theories
  Modern society and social change | Theories and approaches of social change research | Urban and spatial sociology, organizational sociology | Change trends/problems in contemporary society
• Fields, levels and dimensions of social change
  Economy and social structures | Politics and statehood | Cultures and identities | Communication and media
• Methods
  Methods of empirical social research | Qualitative and quantitative social research | Organizational and evaluation research
• Fields of application and research practice
  Research internship in small groups with regional practice partners | Innovation management | Transformation management | Sustainability management | Conflict management | Regional management
• Knowledge, quality and ethics in change management
  Transformative science and management ethics | Theory and practice in consulting | Quality management
   

Additional modules in the 4-semester course:

• Social science research: theory, methodology, reflection
• Social science research and professional practice

Depending on the ECTS of the Bachelor's degree already obtained at   , this Master's degree program can be completed in three or four semesters. The procedure is described below. 

4-semester variant (Bachelor's degree with 180 ECTS)
Winter semester: 

• Module 0-A "Social Science Research: Theory, Methodology, Reflection" (10 ECTS)
• Module 0-B "Social Science Research and Professional Practice" (block internship) (20 ECTS)

Summer semester:

• Module 1 "Recognizing Social Change I: Perspectives, Topics and Theories" (14 ECTS)
• Module 2 "Recognizing social change II: Fields, levels and dimensions of social change" (16 ECTS)

Winter semester:

• Module 3 "Researching and evaluating social change: Methods" (12 ECTS)
• Module 4: "Managing Social Change I: Fields of Application and Research Practice" (18 ECTS)

Summer semester:

• Module 5 "Managing Social Change II: Knowledge, Quality and Ethics in Change Management" (8 ECTS)
• Module 6: Final module (Master's thesis) (22 ECTS)

3-semester variant (Bachelor's degree with 210 ECTS)

The three-semester variant starts annually in the summer semester, so that the course is similar to the four-semester variant. This version of the course therefore only includes modules 1-6.

Students on the Master's degree course are taught key interdisciplinary knowledge and skills in the field of social change and its management.

On the one hand, this includes the appropriation of fields, forms, mechanisms, actors and (unintended) consequences of current social change processes in all their breadth and levels. Forms such as reform, revolution, transformation or innovation, modernization, globalization and individualization processes as well as technical-economic, political or cultural change processes at the micro level of society (families, households, social groups), at the meso level (institutions, organizations) and at the macro level (from the nation state to global society) are therefore dealt with. On the other hand, great attention is paid to the actors of change processes, their goals, resources for action, the conditions and consequences of action as well as (social) patterns of action.

This focus is the prerequisite for the exploration and scientific clarification of management processes in the face of social change. In essence, graduates should have acquired important guiding ideas, concepts and techniques of change management - such as change management, innovation management, sustainability management or transformation management - and be able to apply them in various professional fields. The aim is for graduates to be able to initiate, shape and - as far as possible - control social change processes and recognize the dynamic consequences.

The course is designed to be research and application-oriented. It is therefore possible to gain further qualifications or work in the academic sector as well as - and primarily - a subsequent career outside academia.

Following accreditation, the Master's degree course in "Management of Social Change" at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is recognized as an entry qualification for the higher civil service and entitles students to a doctorate.

It opens up career prospects in a variety of fields of activity:

• Management of innovation processes and structural changes in social, civil society, economic and cultural organizations,
• empirical social and evaluation research,
• urban, village and regional development,
• Personnel and organizational development,
• social planning and social management,
• Planning and implementation of social integration and inclusion processes,
• Organization of training and further education,
• Networking and association activities,
• Coordination of interdisciplinary cooperation between organizations and individuals,
• Advising individuals, groups and organizations in the field of social change.