Studying at postgraduate level isn’t just a way of boosting job prospects, it’s also a way for people who are already established in their profession to advance their careers. Postgraduate study can further skills and knowledge, something which is valued by employers, and often employers entrust higher-qualified employees with more responsibilities. Additionally, a postgraduate qualification may give you the edge when promotion opportunities arise.
After spending over 30 years working within psychiatric rehabilitation units teaching art, Catherine Shevlin made the life-changing decision to further her professional skills by returning to study. Shevlin enrolled on a part-time master’s degree in arts-health at UCLan in 2013. “The course seemed to be an excellent way of combining my knowledge and experience with achieving a higher level of proficiency and qualification,” she says.
The MA in arts-health is a taught programme, which Shevlin felt most suited her needs at the time. “As a mature student, I felt that I needed direction, particularly with regard to contemporary practice and methodologies,” Shevlin says. However, having got the bug, Shevlin is now undertaking a PhD in the same field.
When asked why she chose to embark on her postgraduate journey at UCLan, Shevlin says: “While visiting the university and chatting to course tutors, I felt UCLan had a flexible approach to learning. And the campus was local to me, which fitted well with my other commitments.”
One of the main reasons Shevlin returned to study at this point in her life was to further enhance the level of her already specialist skillset. Shevlin is keen to stress the benefits of the industry-relevant teaching provided at UCLan, saying: “My current project aims to evaluate the impact of experiential art practice on spoken communication within GCSE English among a test group of participants, then to make recommendations that may be generalised to comparable institutions or educational settings.”
Like many mature adults who have worked within the same profession for many years, Shevlin wanted her master’s degree to inspire and change the way she worked from a professional standpoint: “I am now able to contextualise a student’s art practice within a framework and I can recognise and extemporise their experiential, rather than their acquisitive, learning,” she says. “I am certain that my postgraduate degree in arts-health will further enhance the depth of my vocational practice.”
Catherine Shevlin’s top tip for prospective postgraduate students:
“Persevere and all will become clear.”
