Woolcock paper on higher education notes

Why graduate programs in international development are in a tricky place

1) Under grad programs teach 101 so you can become an entry level person.
PHDs help you become researchers. Masters programs are in the middle, they
require you to do tons of things, they are the ones who do the planning,
managing and implementation activity around the world.

2) There will always be a tension in the development field to create a course
which is the applied form of serious social science, while at the same time a
course that provides structures to create a place for reflection on systemic
practices. The conflict between creating reflective doers and practical thinkers.

3) In other fields, doing a post grad is a pre requisite to enter the field. In public
policy, you have multiple other ways of being a person who works as a public
official, as an international diplomat, teaches in a public policy school works in a
think tank, is an advisor to the government. Here, a person with a relevant
degree is the exception, not the norm.

4) Discussing quantitative skills and comparing them to skills like relationship
building, working in teams, ability to express complex ideas simply, either orally
or in written format.

5) Point on delivering lectures formally, to investing individually in mentoring
students. The investment is not too high in development schools/

6) Economics is the lingua franca of international development.

7) Need to be a detective need strong analytical skills, softwares, arsenal at
your disposal

8) Unlike scholars who only converse with their peers, development people need
to be able to communicate in a variety of multidisciplinary ways and modalities.

9) Need to be negotiators