Employment and further study

An MA in History can prepare you for a range of exciting career pathways and for further education.

Our students have a very high level of employability and their graduate destinations are broad and varied.

Careers and employment

The transferable skills you acquire and hone during your MA – skills such as research, analysis and presenting – will appeal to future employers.

In addition to helping you develop these skills, we will support and advise you on your possible career options.

Many of our graduates have done or are currently doing PhDs or are in academia– both in London and at a variety of other institutions from Oxford and Cambridge to Berkeley and Yale. These include:

• Dr Jessica Patterson, Lecturer in the History of Political Thought, Fellow and Director of Studies, Magdalen College, University of Cambridge 
• Dr Paul Sagar, Lecturer in Political Theory, King’s College London 
• Dr Adela Halo, Lecturer in History of Political Thought, University College London 
• Dr Alessandro de Arcangelis, Lecturer in Intellectual History, University College London 
• Dr Signy Gutnick Allen, Department of History, University of Zurich 
• Dr Elias Buchetmann, Lecturer in Early Modern History and Research Associate, University of Rostock 
• Dr Xinxian Zhu, Assistant professor at the Institute of Philosophy, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, China 
• Dr Max Skjönsberg, Assistant Professor of Humanities, University of Florida, Hamilton Center 
• Dr Vanessa Lim, Assistant Professor, Seoul National University 
• Dr Lisa Kattenberg, Assistant Professor in Early Modern Intellectual History, University of Amsterdam 

Students have also gone on to work:

• at the BBC
• in publishing, at prestigious academic presses like Polity Press
• as political advisers in Westminster, the European Parliament, and on
• congressional campaigns in the US
• at NGOs like Global Witness
• as researchers
• in finance 
• in teaching.

Specialists in our careers department will assist you with all aspects of job hunting. They offer events tailored to History students on a variety of subjects, from CV and application writing to networking skills development.

Being a Russell Group university also means that we have unrivalled links with a variety of industries.

Further study

While researching and writing your MA, you may discover a specific subject area that you would like to investigate at doctoral level.

Our PhD students benefit from the expertise of our academics, Queen Mary’s fertile research culture, and easy access to London’s best libraries, galleries, museums and archives.

What does a PhD involve?

A PhD in History is an exercise in original and individual research, framed within a historiographical context.

Full time a PhD takes 3 years, or part-time it takes 6 years.

This challenging undertaking is an individual endeavour, but one which is supported by an expert supervisor. You will also have the encouragement of a mentor and the diverse research environment of the School.

Find out more about what a PhD involves.

PhD staff

Our academic staff are always available to assist with applications and offer guidance on looking for PhD funding and supervision.

In many cases, PhD students meet their supervisors during their MA programme.

Our academics’ range of research expertise is second to none. They cover a huge variety of historical periods, themes, regions and eras. Full details are available on staff profile pages.