Public policy, social impact courses boom despite tepid job scene

The job market has cooled and funds have shrunk but management programmes leading to “social impact careers” – specialisations in public policy and development management – continue to grow.

Just this year, two top-tier management institutions – XLRI’s Xavier School of Management and Indian Institute Management (IIM) Sabhalpur – have launched programmes in public policy. XLRI now offers a one-year hybrid programme in public policy and sustainable leadership and IIM Sambhalpur, an undergraduate BSc in Management and Public Policy. The new Nayanta University in Pune has also included a Masters in Public Policy in its list of new offerings.

These join existing ‘socially-minded’ executive and full-time programmes, such as MBA in development management at Azim Premji University and the PGDM in rural management at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), now, ‘Tribhuvan’ Sahkari University.

“With increasing requirements of governments, both central and state, there has been a demand for professionals who have expertise to solve the policy-related issues and its implementation, hence, the social sector and policy space is growing,” said Prateek Kanwal, co-founder of Kautilya School of Public Policy.

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That said, graduates emerging from such programmes, even top institutions, are finding employment a struggle. “There are fewer jobs in the public policy and development management sector but [despite that] it is witnessing a huge flux of young graduates getting attracted towards it,” said Baksheesh Sachar who graduated from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay’s Master’s in Public Policy programme in 2023. Sachar is currently working as a consultant with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

Public policy courses vs development management

Both programmes concern themselves with the achievement of development objectives for the wider public. The difference is one of perspective.

Richa Govil, vice-chancellor of Azim Premji University, explained the different thus:

“A public policy programme views development challenges from the perspective of the state and government institutions. So these graduates focus on how the policy is designed, analysed and implemented, including management of government schemes and programmes. It prepares people to work within or closely with government systems… A development management programme does cover aspects of public policy, it is from the perspective of the people (citizens) and civil society, and views government institutions as key stakeholders.”

Maitrayee Mukerji, faculty at Indian School of Development Management (ISDM), agreed, describing development management as more oriented toward community-level work. "The development management programme looks into community based organisations or non-profits where public policy is a part of the curriculum. The difference between [this and public policy programmes] is that students in development management have the ability to design an intervention, which is a constraint for public policy graduates, because to design any intervention you need to work with the people," she said.

Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon’s Avanish Kumar pointed out that the evolving role of the bureaucracy in 21st-century governance has created a need for extension and engagement of public policy expertise beyond the government system. And there, both types of programmes play a critical role.

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Citizen centricity in government has now moved from rule-based "doing themselves to role-based getting it done, where civil society players, both as nonprofits and in private sector, especially in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, play an important role”, explained Kumar, who is dean of MDI Gurgaon’s School of Public Policy and Governance.

“The public policy and management professional focuses not only on policy making and analysis, but also on bridging the gap between policy and practice through effective implementation. It is to suggest alternatives for the local and regional concerns within the paradigm of the national policy framework towards Viksit Bharat,” he said.

Public Policy Courses: Curriculum, careers

The programmes – their levels and durations – vary widely. At some institutions, public policy or development management are taught in hybrid formats; at some it is a one-year course and at others, full-fledged degree programmes.

APU’s MBA in Development Management focuses specifically on civil-society organisations.

“There's a clear need today for professionals who can combine a deep understanding of social realities with strong managerial capabilities including [in] social sector organisations, whether large NGOs or small community-based groups,” said Richa Govil, vice chancellor, Azim Premji University.

“Our MBA in Development Management has been designed precisely to respond to this need. It’s not a general management programme with a few social sector examples added on. It has been built from the ground up for this sector, drawing equally from the study and practice of development as well as management sciences.”

The programme “focuses on how civil society organisations work — how they set goals, select approaches for interventions, manage people, resources and programmes; how they make strategic and ethical choices in complex, value-driven contexts; and how they build institutions that can deliver social impact effectively,” added Govil.

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The ISDM offers a one-year postgraduate diploma in development management. The 11-month courses “includes context, designing the interventions, with traditional overlap of development practice”, said Mukherji.

“The development practice includes designing an intervention like a programme. Then, we train our students on how to manage, budget, finance and market the intervention. This is similar to other management courses. However, what makes us different is that the principles are focused on development practices.”

At MDI, the public policy courses are an “amalgamation of sociology, economics, anthropology, political science and public education”. It is highly transdisciplinary.

MBA Jobs: A sector in slump?

However, new graduates and even some teachers of these programmes would advise new joinees to temper their expectations.

Vartika Tomar, a recent graduate of Indian School of Public Policy in Delhi, said jobs are limited and salaries are low, even for the sector. There are several reasons for this.

“Since the last few years, foreign funding rules have been made stricter for non-profits causing many to shut sho, which has impacted the social impact sector poorly. Further, the onset of the Donald Trump administration in the United States has also led to fund crunches in the non-profit sector, after the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) withdrew money globally from several projects, including India,” explained an academic at a Delhi policy school, asking not to be named. The shrinkage of funding for non-profits has meant fewer jobs in the sector.

Sachar agreed. A student emerging from a master’s programme at a top institute may expect a Rs 20-30 lakh annual salary, but there are no such jobs or packages available, he said.

Kanwal, however, has a different take. He argued that even general MBA graduates are struggling with placements and so, the uncertainty holds for everyone. “Had the job market tapered off, there would have been no demand. But why would new courses or programmes be launched every year in public policy? Courses come only when there's a demand,” stated Kanwal. He added that public policy professionals, especially, have many pathways open to them – in consulting, government, different global and multilateral organisations, campaigning, and even politics.

Mukerji added that development management graduates are usually paid less than public policy ones. However, how much is actually offered depends on various factors. “Though our students are equipped to work across a large number of organisations, their salary depends on their prior experience, strong cognitive skills in terms of either strong data analysis or people management skills. Many graduates from our institute get placed with an average package of Rs 7.5- 8 lakh and the maximum is Rs 16 lakh,” she added.

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Glimmer of hope

Sachar is hoping to find a better job but is struggling. He’s decided on upskilling to improve his chances.

“Though the job market is tough, it's very important for young graduates to keep upskilling themselves, not just during their programme, but even after,” he said.

Kanwal added that despite the lull, domestically every government has fellowships with hirings for young graduates, as do non -profits.

Govil believes the sector will actually see growth. “Over the last few years the sector has been growing. It is projected to grow around 10% year-on-year. The sector offers not only tremendous opportunities for learning but also career growth over time,” she added.

This is also linked to how non-profits now function, said the Delhi academic. “Non-profits earlier worked at an extremely slow pace but things have changed,” they said. “Now they are also operating at a fast pace. We are witnessing a gradual shift in this space, with a focus on data, market analysis and the government's mandate on Viksit Bharat aiding the process.”