A Master’s (from the Latin magister) is an academic degree awarded by a university or college at the end of a course of study that demonstrates mastery or a high-level overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
Master’s degree normally requires previous study at the bachelor’s level, either as a separate degree or as part of an integrated course.
Within the area studied, master’s graduates must possess advanced knowledge of a specialist body of theoretical and applied topics; high-level skills in analysis, critical evaluation or professional application; and the ability to solve complex problems and think rigorously and independently.
Masters Degree History In 18 Century
Masters have their roots in European universities, with a papal bull in 1233 ordering that anyone admitted to a master’s degree at the University of Toulouse must be able to teach freely at any university. any other university.
Therefore, the original meaning of a Master’s degree is that a person who has been admitted to a (bachelor’s) degree (i.e. a teacher) in one university must be admitted to the same degree in other universities.
This was gradually formalized as licentia docendī (teaching license). Initially, masters and doctorates were not that different, but by the 15th century it had become customary in British universities to refer to teachers of the lower faculties (arts and grammar) as masters.
Doctors and teachers of higher faculties are doctoral. [2] Initially, a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree was awarded for the study of intersections and a Master of Arts (MA) for the study of intersections.
From the late Middle Ages until the nineteenth century, the diploma model was therefore bachelor’s and master’s in lower faculties and degrees and doctorate in higher faculties.
In the United States, the first master’s degrees (Magister Artium, or Master of Arts) were awarded at Harvard University shortly after its founding.
In Scotland, pre-Reformation universities (St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen) evolved to make the Scottish MA their first degree, while in Oxford, Cambridge and Trinity College, Dublin, MA awarded to BA graduates of a given position.
Without further examination since the late seventeenth century, its main purpose being to confer full membership of the university.
At Harvard, regulations of 1700 required applicants for a master’s degree to pass a public exam, but by 1835 this was awarded Oxbridge-style three years after the bachelor’s degree.
Masters Degree History In 19th Century
The 19th century saw a tremendous growth in the variety of master’s degrees offered. At the turn of this century, the only master’s degree was the MA, and this master’s degree was often awarded without further study or examination.
The Masters in Anatomy was introduced by the University of Glasgow in 1815. By 1861, this had been adopted throughout Scotland, as well as Cambridge and Durham in England and University College Dublin in Ireland.
When the College of Surgeons of Philadelphia was founded in 1870, it also conferred a Master of Surgery, “just like in Europe”.
In Scotland, Edinburgh maintained separate BA and MA degrees until the mid-nineteenth century, although there is much doubt about the quality of Scottish degrees from this period.
In 1832, Lord Brham, Premier and an alumnus of the University of Edinburgh, told the House of Commons that “In England, universities grant degrees after a considerable period of residence, after much work has been completed.
completed, and if they do not fall under all the rigorous aspects required by the statutes of the Universities, nevertheless it cannot be said that the Master of Arts was created in Oxford and Cambridge as in Scotland, without residency.
residence or without any form of examination. In Scotland, all laws of universities impose conditions on classes as a dead letter. ”
Only in 1837, separate exams were re -introduced but in the UK, at the new Durham University (even, as in ancient English universities, this had to register completely), Tracking in 1840 from the same Way L ‘London University, only authorized by his card to make a degree based on the exam.
The lines of Oxbridge and Edinburgh followed after other Scotland universities in rewarding the first level, instead of three, from 1858. at the same time, new universities were founded around the base.
Quoc Anh then London’s lines, including exams for ghosts: Sydney University in Australia and Queen of Ireland in 1850 and Bombay universities (now Mumbai universities), Madras and Calcutta in India in 1857.
In the United States, Master’s awakening as a professional level was tested in 1856 at North Carolina University, followed by Michigan University in 1859, despite the idea of a master’s master. As a second -level level was established until 1870, besides the doctorate as a degree.
Sometimes it is possible to earn one but to check or for seniority in the same organization, for example: in Michigan, but “progress” was introduced in 1848 and was given the last time in the year 1882, while “on Excina” was introduced in 1859.
Masters Degree History In 20th Century
In 2000, new pressure was built on the Oxbridge MA in the UK parliament, with Labor MP Jackie Lawrence launching a petition earlier in the day calling for their removal and told the Times.
Higher Education that it is a “discriminatory practice” and “devalues And erodes the efforts of students at other universities“.
The following month, the Quality Assurance Agency released the results of a survey of 150 major employers that found that nearly two-thirds mistook the Cambridge MA for a postgraduate qualification and just over half made the same mistake regarding ‘Edinburgh MA, with QAA CEO John.
Randall called the Oxbridge MA “misleading and outdated”.
The QAA published the first “higher education qualifications framework in England, Wales and Northern Ireland” in January 2001.
This regulates academic performance for M (master’s) qualifications and recommends that Only the title “Master” should be used for degrees. fully achieve those learning outcomes.
“He addressed many of the Diding report concerns, specifying that shorter courses at the H (hons) level, e.g. conversion courses, should be referred to as a Bachelor’s Degree or Post-Certificate undergraduate degree rather than a Master’s degree, but confirmed that extended undergraduate degrees are master’s degrees.
Stating that “Some master’s degrees in science and engineering are awarded after open university’s programs extended, in general, one year longer than degree courses with honors”.
He also addressed the issue of the Oxbridge MA, noting that “MAs awarded by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are not academic degrees”.
The first “Qualification Framework for Higher Education Institutions in Scotland”, also published in January 2001, used the same qualification table, supplemented with specific credit values.
states that a master’s degree in self-employment must be 180 credits and that a “master’s degree (after a master’s program)” must be 600 credits with a minimum of 120 credits at the M-level.
It is stipulated that the title ‘Master’ should only be used for qualifications that meet the academic performance and credit definition, although it is noted that ‘a small number of universities in Scotland have a tradition of long label some early degrees as ‘MA’ Report.
Of the Agency’s assessments of this provision will include university student standards and will make clear that the title reflects Scottish customs and practices and that any positive assessment of the standards standards will not be taken to imply that the outcome of the program is at the graduate level.”
The 1999 Bologna Declaration initiated the Bologna Process, which led to the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
This established a three-cycle bachelor’s—master’s—doctorate classification of degrees, leading to the adoption of Master’s degrees across the continent, often replacing older long-cycle qualifications such as the Magister (arts), Diplom (sciences) and state registration (professional) awards in Germany.
As the process continued, descriptors were introduced for all three levels in 2004, and ECTS credit guidelines were developed. This led to questions as to the status of the integrated master’s degrees and one-year master’s degrees in the UK, read also about Doctor of Philosophy history.
However, the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Framework for Qualifications of Higher Education Institutes in Scotland have both been aligned with the overarching framework for the EHEA with these being accepted as masters-level qualifications.
