Best degree for aid/ charity work?

Hi
I am a student who is currently deciding what courses to study at university- i plan to apply in 2013
The courses I am deciding between
French and Japanese
French and international development (year abroad spent in an french speaking country working as an aid worker
Japanese and international development (year abroad is spent studying a university in Japan rather than working)

I love French and Japanese and I know I would regret it if I didn't become fluent in both these languages. I want to become an international development/ aid worker when I graduate or work within the charity sector. So, naturally, I started researching courses on international development work. I know that experience in development work places you at an advantage when applying for jobs, and the development courses offer up to a year abroad with work experience in the sector.

My dilemna is
1. I want to study both languages to fluency and see a universiy degree as my only chance of doing this
2. French seems more relevant in aid worker considering the poorer parts of africa, but I would definately regret badly not doing Japanese
3. Japanese seems much less relevent to the field of aid work apart from the tragic tsumani that occured earlier this year. They are one of the most advanced parts of the world so would they really need it. Plus, Japanese with international development offers no work experience so is there any point in applying for that course opposed to french and japanese together?
4. If I find out that aid work is not for me then I would have a useless half of a degree if I study international development

Making the most money was never my top priority so I do not want to work for a business. I would much rather just help people.

So what do you think I should do? Would love to hear from people who have worked in development.
Thanks

Reply 1

Pride

Try direct gov's job profile website, quite good info: https://nextstep.direct.gov.uk/planningyourcareer/jobprofiles/JobProfile1093/Pages/default.aspx

Reply 2

Paddywag

I would say French and International development. Firstly International development is a good degree to help lead you into what is really an extremely difficult industry to enter. Secondly, French is more widely spoken than Japanese around the globe and is in fact a UN language. Many NGO's also use french.

Im in a similar position to you although i have applied to study a single honours in international development. I then intend on living in france after my degree to pick up the language.

If your passionate about Japanese then by all means learn it. But i dont think it will help you as much as French will.

Reply 3

AspiringGenius

BA Disaster Management

Reply 4

Jez RR

French will be far more useful in the world of aid work, not just because of its prevalence in Africa, but also anything to do with the EU or UN.

International development as a degree does not confine you to aid work. You could learn about economics, politics, history, anthropology, natural resources, world affairs and international relations, depending on the particular course components. It is strongly beneficial to obtain a Master's degree for development work (in fact generally that's how things are going in many sectors), so you could use that to specialise at a later date. Additional training courses such as Disaster Management tend to be run professionally.

Japanese is very interesting but of limited use in this regard. It also takes a great deal longer to become fluent in. No reason you can't study it additionally, but I would focus on the other two.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 5

beefmaster

Well I did history and work in development. Honestly it does not matter what your undergrad degree is in. Once you have done a couple of years work experience after your undergraduate you will have to do a masters to access the higher pay grades in the UN / INGO pay system.

Personally I would do French. In my area languages are extremely important and I don't see how you could get Japanese up to a good enough standard to use it in the work place during the time of your degree. French on the other hand you could do.

If you want any more help with a NGO / UN career let me know. I am just going into my 3rd year.

Reply 6

lcsurfer

I studied disaster management and now i work abroad for NGO's... the good thing is the course is known in the NGO world and you meet people on the course and have the opportunity to do things, e.g. I went to a country after a disaster with a seasoned aid worker who was studying the course and asked me if i wanted to.
As only 50 people a year study it everyone knows everyone.
The subject is so varied e.g. my second year modules were like this: Development in the third world, risk and disaster response, Field operations (Practical module, search and rescue skills etc), Water and sanitation engineering, project management, french and career skills.
As the course attracts alot of mature students is good and fantastic contacts in later life. AT cov uni you can also study a language as an optional module which is where ive learnt french.

Reply 7

turqoiseday

Hi, Even I am studying History at the undergraduate level.. I am very confused regarding the course that I should pursue after this. I am also hoping to do aid work..

Reply 8

PricklyPorcupine

Languages are important and if you want to be able to cover a larger area, French is good because it's spoken all over Africa as well as in France and Canada. Geography is useful as they do development and tourism and you can apply this when you start your aid work.