Two sides of the same coin: political science as professional and civic education

Abstract

While the relevance of political science is often evaluated with respect to its scholarly impact, evaluations of the teaching impact are rare. This paper offers a step towards strengthening the societal relevance of a political science degree. We treat the societal relevance of political science as a matter of the (non-)academic career preparation and civic education of its graduates. We are therefore interested in the career paths and individual learning outcomes of Austrian political science graduates. Data from the Graduate Monitoring and semi-structured interviews show that most graduates work outside of academia, moreover, as our results show, many graduates state that they had to acquire additional skills for their professional careers. Consequently, future curricula might consider a stronger focus on non-academic career preparation. At the same time, however, graduates highly value the civic dimension of the programme and the impact it had on their political agency.

The system of political education as an institute for the professionalization of politics

“…Students highly value the civic dimension of the political science program. This was confirmed by the monitoring of graduates at the University of Innsbruck, which was carried out by IHS in the period from 2011 to 2013 (Gatt, 2021).…”

Engaging with research methods in comparative politics courses: practicing skills, questioning data, reflecting on positionality

“…The idea of everyday learning is central to another strand of the literaturethe literature on citizen education-that has recently gained a new momentum in response to political developments across the world, particularly the rise of populism and the spread of various conspiracy theories and anti-expert sentiments, facilitated by the growth of social media (Gatt et al 2021). As argued by Blair and Stockemer (2020: 224), "as a discipline we need to be better at ensuring our curriculum reflects the contemporary landscape and that we provide our students with the tools and the ability to engage in contemporary political debates".…”