New tech and more numbers: Is your global development grad program keeping pace?

The Master of Development Practice program at the University of California, Berkeley, is far from Washington, D.C. and New York-based hubs for international aid, development and diplomacy. But the distance may help students in the 4-year-old program think outside the box, according to director George Scharffenberger. Many students are now considering jobs at startups, consulting firms, think tanks and look for opportunities at other private sector entities before seeking out gigs at well-established aid organizations. The curriculum at Berkeley’s small program follows suit, placing a heavy focus on quantitative rigor, innovation and emerging technology trends. “We are in Silicon Valley and that whole buzz has affected us,” explained Scharffenberger in a phone interview with Devex. “We are seeing the potential of technology and information, innovative finance, global supply chains and social entrepreneurship to contribute to positive change. Our students are looking at [other] opportunities in addition to CARE or Save the Children and the like.” Scharffenberger’s thoughts are compounded by results of a recent Devex survey, in which respondents predicted that high-tech firms, social impact investors, corporations and venture capitalists will see the most growth in impact on development work. Professionals may be more likely to find themselves working alongside, or even within, these nontraditional institutions, according to the survey conducted in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development and Population Services International. In the same vein, universities appear to be increasingly preparing students to broaden their horizons and job prospects by encouraging them to strengthen their quantitative skills, deepen their on-the-ground field experience and also select an area of expertise in which to specialize. It’s not that there are not viable, promising opportunities left for graduating master’s students in traditional areas of international development and humanitarian aid work. UNHCR, for example, recently launched an entry-level humanitarian professional program. The U.N. refugee agency recruits about 40-60 grads for a two-year stint to work in the field, placing them on solid footing to then apply to become a full-time staffer. The program looks for people who have had prior experience in the field, according to John Thomas, the organization’s chief of talent outreach and acquisition. “We wanted to capture this young group of people and to tell them that there is a career in the humanitarian area,” Thomas said. Meanwhile, the Master of Public Administration in development practice program at Columbia University’s School of International Public Affairs allows students to specialize their course load. Glenn Denning, the director of the program, said that its launch six years ago, he has worked to identify, tailor and create more courses that match students’ needs. A course was created a few years ago on understanding the role of extractive industries, for example. There is a consistent need to have a firm grasp on quantitative analysis and for basic management courses, he said, adding “these are the bedrock of what we call our public administration courses.” Students also spend three months in the field between their first and second year of the program. Denning has spent a lot of time talking to potential employers and has found that they also value quantitative skills — someone who is “comfortable with numbers,” Denning said. “Not necessarily having advanced skills in econometrics, but comfortable collecting data and analyzing it, interpreting it and using it to inform decision making, having those skills is really important,” he explained. “Most jobs these days are asking for that. That also means to be able to use new technologies.” One former student of SIPA’s MPA in Development Practice program says that the curriculum was a “bit of a hybrid” — a balance between theory and practice — which he felt was necessary to help move him along in his career. He now works as the manager of operations and finance for the Boston-based MASS design group, a nonprofit architecture and design firm. Martha Cruz, the program chair of the integral economic development programs at the Catholic University of America, agrees with Denning of SIPA that there is a need for students to hone their quantitative skills, and specifically to learn more about survey design and data collection to keep up with growing pressure to show how funding is used. “I think in the past few years, following the economic crisis there has been a decline in funding and there is more competition now for projects,” she said. “There is a need to see specific results that come with data analysis and a need to be more rigorous.” The university is making additions to its curriculum to meet this need and is also creating new computer labs to help students work on their quantitative studies. Ken Rubin, the U.S. regional director for the London-based international development consulting firm IMC Worldwide, said that segment specialties are becoming increasingly in demand. “There is much more differentiation going on at the client side now more than ever before,” he said. “Donors' budgets are strained and capital is being allocated carefully to avoid overlap. Governments have to justify that they are getting what they pay for, so monitoring and evaluation is on the rise.” While the U.S. chapter of IMC is not yet hiring, the U.K. headquarters office is hiring vigorously and has grown 30 percent a year within the last several years, Rubin said. He noted that hiring practices have broadened geographically, tapping sources all over the world, from Mexico and Argentina to the Philippines and China. He recommended that a prospective hire still in school consider building a set of “hard skills, analytical skills, in, for example, engineering, economics, first and foremost. Critical thinking and problem solving are key.” Whether you’re a seasoned expert or budding development professional — check out more news, analysis and advice online to guide your career and professional development, and subscribe to Doing Good to receive top international development career and recruitment news every week.