Why Study / Key Benefits

The Master of Social Impact was designed for high-performing professionals seeking advanced skills in social impact and for professionals working across philanthropy, not-for-profit, private and corporate sectors. The Research specialisation focused on developing the ability to formulate a research plan, conduct practical research, analyse data and produce a business research thesis.

The programme's stated benefits included:

• Developing entrepreneurial thinking and innovation capability.
• Building knowledge of social-impact ethics.
• Developing organisational and communication skills.
• Learning how to design and undertake practical research.
• Developing skills to review literature, establish research questions, analyse data and present research findings.
• Exposure to the Centre for Social Impact Swinburne and its researchers and academics.
• Opportunities for industry-connected learning and practical experience.

Programme Structure and Subjects / Topics

The archived course page identifies eight core units:

• Opportunity Discovery, Creativity and Design — ENT60009
• Corporate Responsibility and Accountability — SIP60001
• Leadership for Social Impact — SIP60002
• Social Impact: Entrepreneurs and Social Innovation — SIP60003
• Social Investment and Philanthropy — SIP60004
• Evaluation and Impact Measurement — SIP70014
• Strategic Philanthropy — SIP80015
• Social Venture Development — SIP80017

Each listed core unit is 12.5 credit points.

The Research specialisation units listed on the archived page were:

• Research Methodology — BUS80003, 12.5 credit points
• Business Research Thesis — BUS80021, 25 credit points
• Quantitative Research Methods — BUS80017, 12.5 credit points
• Qualitative Research Methods — BUS80018, 12.5 credit points
• Advanced Microeconometrics — ECO80002, 12.5 credit points
• Economics of Innovation — ECO80003, 12.5 credit points
• Data Science for Business — INF80054, 12.5 credit points
• Social Network Analysis — INF80055, 12.5 credit points.

Disciplines / Specialisations

The archived Master of Social Impact page displayed multiple specialisation options, including:

• Accounting
• Business Analytics
• Business Information Systems
• Digital Marketing
• Entrepreneurship
• Finance
• Financial Technologies
• Human Resource Management
• International Business
• Project Management
• Research
• Supply Chain Innovation.

Programme Highlights

Historical programme highlights included:

• 1.5-year standard full-time duration.
• Hawthorn campus.
• Blended delivery.
• Social-impact-focused postgraduate study.
• Research specialisation with Research Methodology and Business Research Thesis components.
• Teaching through the Centre for Social Impact Swinburne.
• Access to researchers and academics working in social impact.
• Industry connections and potential practical learning opportunities.
• AACSB professional/business-school accreditation listed on the course page.

Career Outcomes

Swinburne's archived course information identified career development in social-impact leadership and social entrepreneurship and gave Philanthropy Manager as an example role.

The programme was intended for professionals working across:

• Philanthropy
• Not-for-profit organisations
• Social enterprises
• Private-sector organisations
• Corporate environments
• Social-impact initiatives.