International Development

International development is the field concerned with understanding and addressing the economic, social, and political processes through which countries and communities move towards, or are prevented from achieving, greater prosperity and wellbeing. At King's College London, the BA International Development is a three-year full-time programme that includes a year abroad, allowing you to study and potentially gain field experience in a context directly relevant to the questions the discipline addresses. As the current description notes, the programme focuses on the development process in middle-income countries and the changing global economy, developing a deep understanding of how emerging economies are grappling with challenges related to economic, social, and political development.

The discipline is genuinely interdisciplinary. Economics provides tools for understanding growth, poverty, and inequality. Political science asks how institutions shape development outcomes and how power relations determine who benefits from growth.

Sociology and anthropology examine the social and cultural dimensions of development and the experiences of communities affected by development interventions. History gives context to contemporary patterns of inequality that have roots in colonialism and uneven global integration. You will engage with critical perspectives on development that question mainstream assumptions, as well as with empirical research on what development interventions actually achieve.

The year abroad deepens your engagement with specific country or regional contexts and develops the intercultural understanding that work in this field requires.

Graduates of international development programmes work in the development sector across a wide range of roles. International NGOs and charities, multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, United Nations agencies, and regional development banks, bilateral aid agencies, research institutes, social enterprises, and policy bodies in both donor and recipient countries are all significant employers. Roles in programme management, policy analysis, research, advocacy, communications, and field implementation are all accessible to graduates with this background.

Many go on to postgraduate study in international development, development economics, public policy, or area studies, which is often required for more senior roles in the sector. King's location and research connections provide access to the London-based international development community, which is one of the most active in the world.