Master's Dissertation
Code: 42144 ECTS Credits: 10| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4310025 Economics and Business Administration | OB | 0 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Maria Antonia Tarrazon Rodon
- Email:
- mariaantonia.tarrazon@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.
Teachers
- Francisco Javier Vila Carnicero
- Guadalupe Souto Nieves
Prerequisites
Having taken the compulsory and elective modules of the master.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The master’s thesis is a carefully argued scholarly paper of approximately 6000 – 7500 words (roughly 25-30 pages). It should present either an original research well founded and developed on a topic of the students' interest, or a survey of the state-of-the-art literature over a topic of their interest that is carefully documented from reliable and prestigious sources. In any case, an original contribution is expected.
The thesis must have a focus that falls within the topics of the MEBA program, and it must be written under the guidance of an advisor.
In MEBA the master theses are written in groups of 2-3 people. It is the students' task to propose a group to other classmates or to join an existing group. There will be no intervention on the side of the program coordinators.
As the final element in the master’s degree, the thesis gives the student an opportunity to demonstrate expertise in the chosen area and to develop the necessary team-work skills.
Competences
- Argue the case for and write a precise, clear and concise report of the problems presented in the English language.
- Carry out empirical studies.
- Carry out oral presentations in the English language.
- Demonstrate creativity and originality in the planning of a Master's degree project in industrial organisation, public policy and finances
- Develop the ability to assess sex and gender inequalities in order to design solutions.
- Organise, plan and manage the information necessary for a Master's project in industrial organisation, public policy and finances
- Respect ethical, social and environmental values.
- Understand academic research in the areas indicated.
- Use different statistical programs to process data.
Learning Outcomes
- Argue the case for and write a precise, clear and concise report of the problems presented in the English language.
- Carry out empirical studies.
- Carry out oral presentations in the English language.
- Demonstrate creativity and originality in the planning of a Master's degree project in industrial organisation, public policy and finances
- Identify and problematise gender biases, stereotypes and roles in their specific discipline and in the exercise of their corresponding profession.
- Identify the contributions of gender studies to the research topic in question.
- Know and use the contributions of women and gender studies to their discipline.
- Know how to carry out research with a gender perspective.
- Know how to distinguish the effects of sex and gender variables in both theoretical and empirical analyses.
- Know how to identify the intersection of gender inequality with other axes of inequality (age, class, race, sexuality and gender identity/expression, functional diversity, etc.).
- Know how to use and create qualitative and quantitative indicators, including those of a statistical nature, to better understand gender inequalities and the differences in the needs, conditions, values and aspirations of women and men.
- Know how to use language in an inclusive and non-sexist manner.
- Organise, plan and manage the information necessary for a Master's project in industrial organisation, public policy and finances
- Produce, collect and interpret empirical data in a gender-sensitive way.
- Respect ethical, social and environmental values.
- Understand academic research in the areas indicated.
- Use different statistical programs to process data.
Content
After some initial research on the topic chosen, students write a 200-250 word abstract followed by some preliminary references. They approach a possible advisor with it and try to convince her or him about the value and interest of their proposal. Once their topic has been duly refined and counts with the approval of the supervisor, students complete the Application for Approval of Master’s Thesis Topic, have it signed by their advisor, and submit it to the MEBA coordinators by the announced deadline.
Once a faculty member has accepted to advise the master thesis, students agree on a timetable for meetings and submission of drafts. A standard process usually implies three to four meetings: at the beginning, to fix the topic precisely, and to review the first or second drafts. As a general rule, each group is entitled to 3 hours of advisor time. It is students’ responsibility to keep advisors apprised of the master thesis progress. Appropriate time has to be allowed to advisors to return the work to students, whether it is at an initial stage or already the final version. It is appropriate to ask advisors when comments can be expected in order to organize the students’ own calendar, but students are expected not to pressure advisors to respond quickly.
Students are also responsible for the formal quality of the final copy of their master thesis, which has to be free from spelling and grammatical errors and fulfill standard presentation requirements; advisors do not verify line-by-line editing.
Methodology
Any regular faculty member at the UAB Faculty of Economics and Business Studies is entitled, although not required, to become a master thesis supervisor.
It is students’ responsibility to find an advisor. Advisors provide general guidance and help to define the questions to be addressed in the master thesis. Since the beginning of the master sessions in September, students should try to get as much acquainted as possible with the array of alternatives available at our Faculty – both in terms of research topics as well as specialists – and not limit their choice to only those faculty members they have worked with in courses before having to decide about their master thesis.
Approval of thesis topic and thesis advisor by the MEBA coordinators is needed.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutoring and monitoring (thesis writing, presentation, advising) | 100 | 4 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 15, 16, 17 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Reading | 89.5 | 3.58 | 13, 16 |
Assessment
Each Master Thesis will be evaluated by a committee appointed by the MEBA coordination. This committee will be composed of a panel of three professors that are experts in the topic addressed in the thesis. The thesis must be defended in a public academic event in front of that committee. All the students that participate in the thesis must also participate in their thesis defense. Both the thesis written report and the thesis defense will be evaluated by the committee, and each student will receive an individual grade based on his or her performance.
The mark awarded by the committee is worth 85% of the final grade, while the intermediate delivery, assessed by the supervisor, is worth 15%.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral presentation | 25% | 0.5 | 0.02 | 3 |
| Thesis Paper | 75% | 60 | 2.4 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 |
Bibliography
Bibliography according to the contents of the master thesis.
Software
Suitable to the contents of the master thesis.