Nadimah is a part-time Research Consultant at the International Labour Organisation.
Nadimah Mohammed, MPA
The MPA has allowed me to curate the career and family life I have always wanted.
When I applied to join the MPA, however, I had no idea that that would be the case. I was drawn to the programme primarily because it ticked all the checkboxes for a programme that would really prepare me for a career in public policy - as opposed to programmes that just claim to do so. The interdisciplinary structure, rigorous training in quantitative methods, flexibility to focus on personal areas of interest, and the practical experience of the capstone consultancy made it seem like the perfect fit.
In reality, the MPA tremendously surpassed expectations. From a background in political science, the growth in both relevant knowledge and skills over the course of the two years of study was exponential. I was especially happy to be able to take option courses from the Methodology department which allowed me to expand my skill set to areas such as survey methodology and qualitative research methods. The capstone consultancy for UNICEF (New York) proved to be a true example of the type of work I would later engage in professionally.
Shortly after completing the MPA, I got married and returned to my home country of Trinidad and Tobago. The job market in the Caribbean is such that public policy graduates are often found to be overqualified and underemployed, with consultancy opportunities generally reserved for those with PhD qualifications or several years of professional work experience. I had neither. But the MPA gave me the level of skills and knowledge to be able to secure and develop a working relationship as a research consultant with the International Labour Organisation in the Caribbean. Here I examine and author publications on policy areas such as youth employment, non-standard forms of employment and, most recently, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism employment in the sub-region.
More importantly for me, this employment arrangement has allowed me to choose when and how I work on projects: I’ve taken prolonged breaks to have my two sons, and managed to be a full-time mother while working part-time. I do not think I would have been able to enjoy such job flexibility without the skill level acquired via the MPA. I am also quite confident that the MPA qualification will make it easy to transition to more permanent work in policy should I desire to do so once my boys are older.
While the MPA does an exceptional job of preparing graduates for full-time policy careers, I think it’s a wonderful thing to be assured that for those of us in search of a less conventional path, the MPA provides that as well.
Nadimah is happy to connect via LinkedIn.