Meet Shivangani Misra, a recent graduate of Masters in Public Policy (MAPP) from Jindal School of Government and Public Policy (JSGP) of the O.P. Jindal Global University.
“I did my under-graduation in mass media with a specialization in journalism. After working as a news producer and researcher in business news channels for nearly 4 years, I decided to shift to a more research-oriented career. Hence, public policy was a perfect fit for my goals,” shares Shivangani as she talks about her decision to pursue a masters degree in Public Policy.
“Initially, I was a little sceptical about taking admission during the COVID-19 year, i.e., 2020. I was worried about stunted course learnings and career prospects as a good chunk of my Masters would be spent online. As it turned out, I spent 3 semesters out of 4 locked up in my room. Nevertheless, I have no regrets as I still had a great learning experience. Seeing the wealth of knowledge and real-life experience the faculty brought to each class helped me overcome my hesitation. Most of the professors have worked or are still working with Indian think tanks like the Centre for Policy Research or international organisations like the UN which helps brings nuance to their teaching. Their networks and past connections within the sector also prove useful to students in securing an internship or job at these respected firms,” says Shivangani while sharing about her online learning experience during the COVID19 pandemic.
Shivangani joined the programme 2 months late, but the professors ably guided her through the study material and were always available for any questions. Even though the lectures were online, the teaching was highly engaging and the learning collaborative. Group presentations in many courses helped her befriend many of my classmates who otherwise would have remained strangers in this online learning format.
“I particularly enjoyed working on presentations for the Gender and Development, and Law and Public Policy course as it required each group member to present a different angle of the issue selected in the most in-depth yet concise manner. This helped me hone my presentation and analytical communication skills required in every job. The subsequent semesters consisted of courses like Macroeconomics for Public Policy, Political Philosophy and Democratic Governance which gave us a deeper understanding of the interrelationships among individuals, government, and public policy. On the other hand, subjects like Qualitative Research Methodology, Academic Writing, Program Design and Evaluation provided us with more practical skills like conducting a survey, evaluating a programme, and writing all of this in an academic style. What I appreciated the most about MAPP is the wide array of electives we could choose from different Jindal schools. Being from a media background, I was overjoyed to pick the Media and Law elective from the law school as it helped me understand privacy and free speech issues better,” shares Shivangani.
In the fourth semester, the course expects students to pursue any one of the three options between a capstone, dissertation or two electives. Shivangani opted for a capstone as she believed it would help her gain more working knowledge in her area of interest.
“I am deeply grateful to JGU as it helped me get my preferred capstone client, Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF). IFF was a steep learning curve for me where I got to work on different digital rights issues like data protection and surveillance. By treating me like any other employee of the organisation, the leadership trusted me with their serious policy work including drafting responses to government policies, writing blog posts for their website, and speaking at external events. Working with them helped me realise that I can beautifully combine my policy and media learnings by joining the policy advocacy space. It also helped me strengthen my resume, important for securing a respected job offer,” shares Shivangani proudly.
While one of the aims of pursuing a capstone is to finally convert it into a job, Shivangani decided to not take that path and instead decided to find an opening in a consultancy or a corporate.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my Masters in Public Policy programme at O.P. Jindal Global University and would recommend it to anyone interested in the field of public policy, policy making and politics,” shares Shivangani.
We wish her all the best for her future!
