Graduate Destinations

Career Prospects

The study of economics provides students with a range of important skills necessary to continue in the field of research and analysis, and equips students with a portfolio of widely transferable skills valued by employers. These include numeracy, analytical thinking and general skills such as organisation and effective communication skills. In addition the study of economics gives students specialist knowledge and particular problem solving skills including: abstraction, analysis, quantification, strategic thinking and adaptability.

Who do graduates work for?

SOAS Economic graduates have gone on to employment in a range of professional roles in both business and public sectors, such as international banking and finance, national governments in many parts of the world, international organisations and development agencies, non-governmental organisations, and academia. The UK's Government Economic Service, HM Treasury, the Bank of England, various United Nations organisations, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the OECD, the Overseas Development Institute, GIZ Oxford Policy Management, Christian Aid, HSBC Bank, Barclays, Standard Chartered Bank, KPMG, Capital Economies, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, BBC World Service, Bloomberg L.P, the Financial Times and Euromoney Magazine are just some of the employers.

Destination of 2015 graduates

Here is the latest information from the known destinations of the 2015 UK, EU and International graduates of single and joint honours studies within the department.

Undergraduates: single and joint honours degrees

All undergraduate students are contacted 6 months after graduation (so for undergraduate students this is in January) to find out what they were doing - working, studying or something else, such as travelling. We find out this data in the summer, so here is the latest information from the 36 known destinations of the 2015 UK, EU and International graduates of single honours studies within the department.

Well-known alumni of the SOAS Department of Economics include:

Oldemiro Júlio Marques Balói (MSc 1994), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mozambique (since 2018)
Luísa Dias Diogo (MSc 1992), Prime Minister of Mozambique (2004 - 2010) and Minister of Planning and Finance (2000 - 2005)
Lesetja Kganyago (MSc 1994), Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (since 2014)
Leslie W. Maasdorp (MSc 1992), Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the New Development Bank (since 2015)
Lia Quartappelle (MSc 2005), Member of the Italian Parliament (since 2013) and Secretary of the Foreign and European Affairs Commission
Samir Radwan (MSc 1967, PhD 1973), Minister of Finance of Egypt (2011) in the first post Mubarak Government
Atiur Rahman (PhD 1977), 10th Governor of Bangladesh Bank (2009 - 2016)
Ibrahim Saif (MSc, PhD), Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Jordan (since 2015), former Minister of Planning & International Cooperation
Maria Graciela Ramos Bucad (MSc 1992), Chief Executive of Barclays Africa Group and Member of the Executive Committee of Barclays (since 2011) and former Director-General of the National Treasury of South Africa
Husam Zomlot (PhD 2008), Ambassodor-at-large for the Palestinian Goverment and Co-fournder and Co-ordinator of the Palestine Strategy Group at the Oxford Research Group
Olympia Stylianou (MSc), Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Republic of Cyprus (since 2014)

DLHE Statistics

Graduate Destination Surveys from 2014 show that the majority of graduates who could be surveyed are either in work, further study, work and study or volunteering.

SOAS University of London

Department of Economics