Business and Sustainability MSc alumni and student experiences

More graduate experiences

Marissa’s experience of pivoting from finance to climate justice

“I applied to Business and Sustainability MSc to better enable a pivot from a career in finance to corporate sustainability, attracted to the programme’s balanced emphasis on both business and sustainability, rather than prioritising one discipline. Despite this initial professional conviction, the collaborative learning environment from our diverse cohort and breadth of taught knowledge regarding just transitions revealed my passion for climate justice. Ultimately, the practical applications from coursework and professors’ support focussed this interest into an entirely unexpected career path, as I now embark upon a PhD at UCL on climate reparations.” - Marissa Bergman (Graduate 2023/24)

Makiko’s experience of building on a decade of policy work with advanced study

“I have worked for the Ministry of the Environment of the Japanese Government for about ten years and have had many experiences. Specifically, I have been involved in determining Japan’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, developing Japan’s medium- and long-term plans to combat climate change, and international negotiations on environmental policy. As my career progressed, I took on more responsibility and needed to formulate policies of greater importance. In this context, I joined this course because I wanted to gain a deeper knowledge of how to encourage the business sector to work together in the pursuit of sustainability and, moreover, to develop policies that would positively impact their business.

The course is fascinating because it gives me an in-depth knowledge of what is necessary and up-to-date when thinking about business concerning sustainability. It covers a wide range of perspectives on sustainability. Regarding the environmental perspective, the curriculum is broad, up-to-date and in-depth, even from my perspective as a specialist in environmental administration. The faculty is very diverse and very attentive. Above all, it is a very stimulating environment where I can study with a select group of students from all over the world from diverse backgrounds.” - Makiko Kuwamura (Graduate 2023/24)

Harland’s experience of growing professionally through the MSc

 “I began the MSc looking for a way to expand my knowledge in a new field. My role had recently changed, and the subjects of the master’s have become extremely relevant to my day job. More than this, this depth and breadth of knowledge, the opportunity to specialise on subjects that I find genuinely interesting, and the guest speakers that we have visit, have all contributed to an enormous boost in confidence.” - Harland Evans (Current part-time student (2023/25)